Second Victim

Abstract

Moral distress and injury are common occurrences in healthcare. The second victim phenomenon, a concept coined by Dr. Albert Wu in 2000, is defined as psychological trauma experienced by healthcare team members following a medical error and/or a patient-related event. Organizational response to moral injury has a direct impact on the well-being of healthcare team members. Understanding the psychological impact of the second victim phenomenon sets the stage to identify and establish appropriate support and intervention for healthcare team members. As a function of the multiple competencies contributing to a high reliability organization, support of the second victim is the right thing to do from a humanistic standpoint and a best practice. We discuss the six stages of the second victim phenomenon and recovery and the recommended interventions for each stage. An outline of organizational recommended practices to aid the second victim, such as a C-level executive to serve as the executive sponsor of the second victim support team, is reviewed. The magnitude of the second victim phenomenon and its consequences reinforces the worthwhile investment of establishing an infrastructure for second victim support.