What is second victim syndrome?
The concept of a second victim was proposed over 20 years ago to bring
awareness to the health care professional providing care to a patient
during a safety incident. The primary victim in these incidents is the
patient or family/caregiver and deserves priority attention, having any
ill-effects managed and mitigated. The second victim is/are the health
care professional(s) engaged in the incident. In 2022, an international
group of experts created a consensus definition.
A second victim is "any health care worker, directly or indirectly
involved in an unanticipated adverse patient event, unintentional
healthcare error, or patient injury, and who becomes victimized in the
sense that they are also negatively impacted." Taking this further,
second victim syndrome (SVS) is a phenomenon such
as when a health care worker harbors feelings of personal responsibility
for unexpected patient outcomes and feels that they have failed their
patient, going so far as to discredit their own personal knowledge and
clinical skills.
SVS Peer Supporter Training Program
APhA has partnered with Nationwide Children’s Hospital and their YOU
Matter program to
provide training for members aimed at creating APhA Second Victim
Syndrome (SVS)
Emotional Support Groups. The SVS training will consist of two main
components:
Virtual Peer-to-Peer Training: A 3-hour online
training session on October 16, 2024, from
9:00am – 12:00pm will be conducted where APhA members are trained by
YOU Matter staff
who have undergone specialized stress management training. Training
will cover emotional
support group facilitation techniques using the recognize, respond,
and refer model. It will also
include various stress management techniques, including mindfulness,
time management, and
relaxation exercises for the monthly sessions.
Facilitate SVS Emotional Support Group Sessions: Monthly hour-long
group sessions where
members can share their experiences and receive emotional support
from our trained peers.
The format will be a virtual meeting using a secure online platform
to ensure privacy and
confidentiality.
Are you interested in serving as a trained facilitator? Complete the
online
application to attend
the training session on October 16, 2024.
Last day to register for the training session is Monday, October 14,
2024, at 11:59pm ET.
Medication errors are a leading cause of SVS
According to the National Coordinating Council for Medication Error
Reporting and Prevention (NCC MERP), a medication
error is defined as "any preventable event that may cause or
lead to inappropriate medication use or patient harm while the
medication is in control of the health care professional, patient,
or consumer."
As the medication experts, pharmacists and pharmacy support personnel
ensure that the right medication reaches the right patient at the
right time at the right dose via the right route (commonly known as
the five rights. Pharmacists employ principles of medication and
patient safety to decrease the likelihood of patient safety
incidents. The World Health
Organization's Global Patient Safety Action Plan recognizes
that patient safety incidents seldom result from an error of a
single individual, but rather due to the complexity of poor design
and operation of systems, and may occur throughout the entire
medication-use system. A vast majority of patient safety incidents
can be linked to flaws in systemic, strategic, or organizational
conditions which are beyond the
control or influence of the health care professional engaged
in the incident. Health care systems are in a constant state of
improvement to prevent patient safety incidents and potential second
victims.
APhA supports pharmacists and pharmacy personnel suffering from SVS
APhA recognizes the impact that SVS has on individual pharmacists,
pharmacy technicians, student pharmacists, pharmacy residents, and
other pharmacy personnel.
Please keep checking this page regularly as APhA will be creating
programs such as support groups where you can spend some time in a
safe space with a community of like-minded pharmacy professionals.
You can come to share your own personal story, or just listen. A
mental health professional with experience in assisting second
victims will be there to offer insights and resources.
We'll also offer materials to support the needs of pharmacy second
victims as they move through the stages of
second victim recovery.
Six stages of second victim recovery
- Chaos and accident response
- Intrusive reflections
- Restoring personal integrity
- Enduring the inquisition
- Obtaining emotional first aid
- Moving on