The things we carry: The scope and impact of second victim syndrome

Every day, healthcare professionals (HCPs) witness, participate in, and are responsible for undesirable patient outcomes including unanticipated mortalities, procedural complications, and medical errors. Patient outcomes are brought into scrutiny under the spotlight of Morbidity and Mortality conferences, and may be further explored in the setting of Root Cause Analysis proceedings or other quality improvement processes. Often, there are robust systems in place for patient and family support, as the impact of these events on these populations is well-recognized. More recently, there has been growing interest on defining the impact of these events on HCPs and delineating strategies for support and mitigation of the negative consequences on the “second victims” (SVs).