Two Maryland hospitals — greater Baltimore Medical Center and the University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore — are implementing programs to help clinicians cope with the stress that comes after a medical error, according to The Baltimore Sun.
After a medical error or patient harm, clinicians can suffer from stress and emotional harm, which can in turn further affect their ability to perform at work, according to the report. Albert Wu, MD, a physician and researcher at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore, calls this the "second-victim" phenomenon.
"Their pain and devastation are no less real," he told the Sun. "Initially; they need emotional support and empathy."
To combat this issue, the hospitals' programs involve choosing a team of roughly 24 peer responders who are trained to counsel caregivers as they deal with the aftermath of a medical error, or another source of work-related stress.
The programs are fairly new, and GBMC and UMMC will track the results at their facilities.
"From what I'm hearing, employees are saying, 'This idea is great. My organization cares about me.' That's good for everyone," Robert Imhoff, president of the Maryland Patient Safety Center, told the Sun.