Medical errors can deeply impact healthcare providers. When a serious error is made, such as a ten-times overdose that nearly caused a baby to die, the provider may experience shame, guilt, and doubts about their skills and abilities. This can lead some providers to change jobs or specialties, have issues in their personal lives, or even contemplate suicide (the "second victim" phenomenon). Organizations can help providers cope and even thrive after errors by fostering a culture of acceptance where errors are seen as opportunities to improve, and by providing mentorship and positive affirmation. Resilience prior to an error is important, as is seeking further support from talks or training on coping with medical errors.

1. Medical Error –
How do you cope?
Colleen Taylor, ED Registrar
August 2017

2. “To err is human, to forgive is
devine”1

3. BABY J

4. Baby J
“So I have wanted to write this status for over a week, but
felt I couldn't incase of legal reasons..however the incident
is being investigated by the board, and I will leave names
and other incidents out..for now..on the Thursday morning
jaxon was overdosed on a medication by ten times the
normal amount. A now level one error nearly caused my son
to die, he had many complications due to this massive
mistake”

5. Medical Error
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JmB8PCEXVgk

6. How Can it Impact?
• Feelings:
- Shame
- Guilt
- Embarrassment
- Shake your professional and personal self image

7. How Can it Impact?
• Behaviour
- Change how you relate to your colleagues
- Change your practice
- Change where you work
- Quit your specialty/job
- Affect your home life
- Drug/alcohol use
- Suicide

8. The Second Victim
• “a health care provider involved in an unanticipated
adverse patient event, medical error and/or a patient
related-injury who become victimized in the sense that
the provider is traumatized by the event. Frequently,
second victims feel personally responsible for the
unexpected patient outcomes and feel as though they have
failed their patient, and feel doubts about their clinical
skills and knowledge base.”1

9. Simon Carley – Talking
about Medical Error
https://youtu.be/o1A-Ld_6MbI

10. The Second Victim
• There are those that thrive……
• And those who survive……
• And those who leave

11. The Second Victim
Trajectory

12. How Can I Thrive?
• Personal
- Resilience is important
- You can’t teach resilience after the event
- Links in to being in a positive headspace
- Don’t become a victim

13. How Can I Thrive?
• Organisation
- Be kind
- Positive affirmation
- Have a mentor
- Build a culture which accepts errors occur

14. Further Information – The
Talk That Saved My
Career
• SMACC talks – Simon Carley on Medical Error

15. References
1. Alexander Pope, An Essay on Criticism, Part II (1711).
2. Scott et al. The natural history of recovery for the
healthcare provider “second victim” after adverse
patient events. Qual Saf Health Care. 2009 18: 325-330