The Emotional Impact of Medical Errors on Practicing Physicians in the United States and Canada

Second victims, organizational resilience and the role of hospital administration

“…A strong coping strategy, however, was having the opportunity to informally discuss errors with colleagues [53] . Yet the desire for support and counseling was offset by a fear of stigmatization in a recent large-scale study [54] .…”

Supporting involved health care professionals (second victims) following an adverse health event: A literature review

“…Understanding other second victims have experienced can help the suffering nurse to cope with the feelings of guilt, shame, fear and loss of confidence (Schelbred and Nord, 2007). Many health care providers, including nurses, struggle to find support after a medical error, do not know where to find assistance or guidance or did not received the adequate support for coping with the stress that is associated with an adverse event (Gallagher et al, 2003, Scott et al, 2008Waterman et al, 2007). Health care institutions often fail to take responsibility for the provision of support and provision of the necessary elements of a support system (Conway et al, 2010;Gallagher et al, 2003;Schwappach and Boluarte, 2009).…”

Nurses' experiences with errors in nursing

“…As 'second victims,' individuals were affected in both their personal and professional lives (Schelbred & Nord, 2007) and/or experienced serious long-term emotional consequences . After being involved in an error, many nurses neither received the support they needed nor knew where to find such support (Scott et al, 2009;Waterman et al, 2007). Most health care institutions did not have 18 adequate support systems in place to assist staff with coping and adapting after an error (Gallagher et al, 2003;Schwappach & Boluarte, 2008).…”