Development of a Facility-Level Second Victim Syndrome Peer-Mentor Program: Program Design and Future Directions

Despite efforts to prevent errors, studies show that iatrogenic, or health care-related, errors continue to occur. Understandably, these errors, which can range in severity from near-misses to serious harm, can be devastating for the health care professionals involved, creating a potential second set of victims, in addition to the patient(s) that were harmed directly. Studies show that individuals struggling with second-victim syndrome (SVS) can be at increased risk for depression, burnout, and poor work performance. However, programs designed to develop peer mentors to support individuals struggling with SVS are poorly described.

Following a review of the literature, our team designed a program that involved training for leaders to serve as mentors and provide ongoing emotional support to their staff. Mentorship training included a 90 to 120-minute training, involvement in monthly mentoring meetings, and materials and training on potential support modalities, such as journaling, aromatherapy, walking paths, and other stress relief activities.

Thirty SVS peer mentors at our facility completed the training, with plans to expand to 50 SVS peer mentors by the end of 2025. Plans to expand the program to other facilities, add additional metrics, and evaluate both mentor and staff outcomes are underway.

The mentor training program was designed to support health care professionals experiencing SVS and build support for colleagues through the development of mentors to help with psychological support. Additional research on the short- and long-term outcomes for facilities implementing similar SVS peer-mentoring programs is needed.