Quality lines

The natural history of recovery for the “second victim” of a medical error

When a medical error occurs, regardless of system defects that might underlie such an error, healthcare professionals frequently feel that they have personally failed their patient or failed to competently apply their caring professional skills. Some have called these health professionals the “second victims” of medical errors, in addition to the harmed patient and family. In this report from the US, findings from semi-structured interviews of 31 second victims identified 6 stages that delineate the natural history of recovery for second victims. The stages were similar regardless of profession or gender. They are characterised as 1) chaos and accident response; 2) intensive reflection; 3) restoration of personal integrity; 4) enduring the inquisition; 5) obtaining …