Second victim syndrome

APhA recognizes the need to support those in the profession of pharmacy who identify as suffering from second victim syndrome. You are not alone.

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 Emotional Support Group Facilitator 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.

GSK

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 Emotional Support Groups for pharmacist 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. Starting in November 2024, APhA will offer monthly emotional 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. Trained emotional support group peers will be facilitating these monthly sessions and can assist second victims if further insights and resources are needed.

There is no charge for attending the monthly support group sessions. Sessions will be conducted via Zoom and shall remain confidential. Please note that registration is required, and your information will only be used for the purposes of sending the invitation to the virtual meeting. Please complete the SVS Emotional Support Group Registration Form to participate.

Six stages of second victim recovery

Chaos and accident response
Intrusive reflections
Restoring personal integrity
Enduring the inquisition
Obtaining emotional first aid
Moving on

For more information on the six stages of second victim recovery please review this article