Second Victim Syndrome in Trauma Practitioners and Other Ancillary Staff

Abstract

In health care, second victims are traumatized clinicians involved in unanticipated or untoward patient events. Programs that address second victim syndrome are sparse and its diagnosis often goes unrecognized. Consistently, literature has identified gaps in support resources, leading to compromised patient care and provider health. This project evaluates the need for second victim resources in trauma care providers at a tertiary public level 1 trauma hospital by electronically implementing a validated second victim survey over 5 weeks. Our results illustrate that second victim syndrome is prevalent among 57.1% of trauma care providers, of which 22.9% agree that second victim syndrome results in some form of undesirable work intentions.

Stress and Coping in Emergency Nurses Following Trauma Patient Care: A Qualitative Grounded Theory Approach

“…It was beneficial for nurses to discuss the events and realize they were not alone in their thoughts. This helped them accept patient outcomes and stop second-guessing themselves; this is consistent with the literature (Bakshi et al, 2022;Howard & Navega, 2018). Unit-organized, formal debriefing sessions were scheduled a few days after the event, but everyone agreed the best time to debrief emotionally was shortly after the trauma care situation occurred (same day, same shift).…”

“…Trauma nursing experiences have been associated with elevated cortisol levels, intrusive thoughts, arousal, and avoidance (Balters et al, 2020; Worku et al, 2022). Other responses include distressing emotions, difficulty thinking, withdrawal from patients, absenteeism, and job changes (Bakshi et al, 2022). Personal history of trauma (e.g., interpersonal violence, sexual assault, and robbery victim) is associated with an acute perception of increased personal stress (Leung et al, 2023; Worku et al, 2022).…”

Environmental Factors Impacting Wellness in the Trauma Provider

“…Surgeons experience moral injury related to poor patient outcomes and adverse events, witnessing the suffering or death of critically ill patients, and witnessing the imperfections of the healthcare system in caring for patients. Moral injury is defined as “a strong cognitive and emotional response that can occur following events that violate a person’s moral or ethical code [ 15 ].” Moral injury can progress to second victim syndrome in which the physician experiences significant mental stress after an adverse patient event [ 16 ]. Moral injury and second victim syndrome can lead to PTSD as well as physician burnout [ 17 ].…”