Background
Nurses who experience patient safety incidents are recognized as second victims of such incidents because they can suffer psychological and emotional trauma in the aftermath of the incident [
1,
2]. As second victims, nurses can be seriously affected by psychological, physical, and professional impacts, which can lead to burnout and a change in occupation [
3‐
5]. These negative emotions can persist for days, weeks, months, or even longer [
6‐
8].
Emotional support for second victims can help them return to work quickly after the occurrence of patient safety incidents, effectively support patients and their families who have been harmed, and assist in identifying improvement activities to prevent the recurrence of similar incidents [
9]. For these reasons, some healthcare institutions operate second victim support programs [
10‐
16]. These programs operated by healthcare providers utilize trained peer supporters to provide psychological support while ensuring accessibility and confidentiality [
17]. The healthcare providers of such programs found them to be beneficial [
18]. After four years of program implementation, awareness of the program’s availability and effectiveness had significantly increased [
19]. Furthermore, second victim support programs have had a positive impact on the patient safety culture [
20,
21].
However, these studies have not reported the results regarding the effectiveness of the program evaluated by directly involving the participants to maintain confidentiality [
17]. Also, the implementation of second victim support programs requires a long preparation process, including obtaining an agreement from the management and staff, selecting and educating peer supporters, and establishing program systems [
11,
14,
16]. Therefore, only a limited number of healthcare institutions can afford to operate support programs [
17,
22]. It is necessary to develop a program that can be available to more healthcare providers, while ensuring accessibility and confidentiality, and to empirically evaluate the program’s effectiveness.
Therefore, this feasibility study aimed to develop an external support program for nurses as second victims and to examine the feasibility, acceptability, and impact of the program.
Discussion
In this study, we developed the YANA program, an external psychological support intervention for nurses as second victims, and assessed its feasibility and acceptability. Over the course of the 8-month program operation, out of a total of 26 applicants, 11 participants completed the program, and 10 participants completed both pre and post-program surveys. Participants expressed satisfaction with the program, stating that it helped them resolve their problems and that they would recommend it to others or use it again. The psychological impact of patient safety incidents on participants decreased after completing the program.
While research on second-victim support programs has been ongoing [
22], direct evaluation of the interventions has been limited due to the need to protect participant confidentiality. Additionally, internal programs have only been accessible to staff within the relevant healthcare institutions. This study developed and implemented an external support program, allowing for a direct evaluation of its effectiveness and demonstrating its potential to attract more healthcare providers to participate. This study can serve as a source and reference for constructing and implementing more effective second victim support programs, in line with the global trend of research on second victim support.
The YANA program was based on existing second victim support programs [
10‐
16], with modifications and supplementations to meet the demands of Korean nurses. Unlike previous programs, the YANA program was operated outside of hospital settings, and more participants were recruited through online open recruitment than through hospitals, presumably because minimizing the amount of information collected assured anonymity; that is when the program was not limited to healthcare institutions, more nurses were able to participate while protecting their personal information, which was their greatest concern. A particular advantage of this program’s operating method is that it can provide support to nurses in healthcare institutions without the resources to develop and implement their own second victim support programs.
Another distinctive feature of the YANA program is that it utilized external counselors as program providers, which reflects the demands of nurses who were concerned about protecting their identity and confidentiality regarding patient safety incidents. Counselors possess the basic knowledge and skills necessary for counseling and can handle unexpected situations that may arise during the counseling process. Some researchers have recommended that second victim support programs include services provided by a variety of experts trained to deal with second victim phenomena, such as counselors, social workers, and clinical psychologists [
14,
37]. The use of counselors could also help reduce the time needed to select and train peer supporters in healthcare institutions, thereby reducing the time required for program implementation.
During the 8-month program operation period, a total of 26 nurses applied to participate in the program, and 11 nurses (42%) completed all three sessions. The exact reasons for withdrawal from the program were not provided by the withdrawing nurses, but they may have withdrawn due to misunderstandings about the program, low symptom severity, impulsive application, and lack of motivation [
38]. In particular, the lack of awareness regarding second victim phenomena and support programs may be a significant hindrance to program participation [
11,
14]. Therefore, it is necessary to raise awareness among healthcare professionals that the psychological reactions experienced by nurses after patient safety incidents are normal responses and can be alleviated through emotional support. In future research, it is necessary to consider these points and perform prior preventive education on second-victim phenomena before implementing the program, and to identify the reasons for withdrawal from participation in order to improve the program.
However, the feasibility of the YANA program was confirmed by the zero-dropout rate, with all 11 nurses who started the program remaining present in all three sessions. To further increase participation rates in future program implementations, various measures are necessary. Alongside the aforementioned preventive education, it is imperative to promote the program using channels such as social media, posters, and brochures. Additionally, it is crucial to offer diverse program formats tailored to participants’ needs, including not only one-on-one individual counseling but also group sessions and peer support groups. Providing incentives can also encourage participation, whether through monetary benefits such as free program participation or gift cards, or non-monetary benefits like recognition of educational hours. Exploring potential participants’ requirements for incentives could also be a viable approach to enhance program engagement.
Participants were generally satisfied with the program and expressed a high intention to reuse it in similar situations and recommend it to others. This high satisfaction could be attributed to the emotional support provided by counselors in individual one-on-one counseling. Similar findings were observed in peer support programs, where participants showed satisfaction, willingness to reuse, and recommend the program [
18,
19]. However, some participants expressed a desire for more diverse counseling techniques, highlighting the need to understand and develop various programs to meet the diverse demands of nurses. This suggests that second victims may require emotional support in various forms.
Moreover, the program was provided without a designated location, with counselors selecting a venue for each session in the participant’s preferred area. Although efforts were made to choose quiet and private places, some participants expressed discomfort with the lack of a designated venue and the use of public facilities. To sustain the program in the future, utilizing the branch offices of central or regional patient safety centers, nursing societies, or hospitals may be considered as one option.
The YANA program was developed based on the theoretical framework of psychological first aid, similar to previous second victim support programs [
10‐
16]. Accordingly, the program focused on providing emotional support based on participants’ responses and emotions related to the incident, rather than on incident-related information. It helped mitigate the psychological impact of the incident. Some participants found comfort in sharing and discussing their difficulties as nurses, from responding to the incident to coping with work-related challenges. While similar results can be found in previous studies [
11,
19], this study is unique in that it directly verified the positive effects of emotional support on second victims. However, the results of this study should be interpreted with caution due to its small sample size and single-group design as a preliminary feasibility study.
There are several limitations to this study. Firstly, the small sample size limits the generalizability of the findings. Secondly, the study employed a single-group design without a control group, which prevents conclusive verification of the program’s effectiveness. Thirdly, data for evaluating the program’s effectiveness were only collected immediately after program completion, without a follow-up measurement to assess its long-term effects. Fourthly, various variables that could affect program effectiveness were not controlled. Therefore, it is necessary to gather data from more participants and conduct a comprehensive analysis of the program’s effectiveness in future studies. Fifthly, to mitigate selection bias resulting from only participants with a high willingness to participate joining the program, we did not impose restrictions on program participation criteria and employed diverse recruitment strategies. However, despite these efforts, over half of the participants who applied for participation withdrew, which could lead to selection bias. Therefore, caution is warranted when interpreting the results. Finally, the program developed in this study was provided by counseling professionals with related knowledge and skills. While this factor may have contributed to the program’s effectiveness, it may also have acted as a barrier to program participation due to prejudices towards counseling [
11]. In the future, it is essential to develop and implement various types of programs to better understand the needs of nurses who have experienced patient safety incidents.
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