Increased risk of burnout for physicians and nurses involved in a patient safety incident

Abstract

Background: Human errors occur everywhere, including in health care. Not only the patient, but also the involved health professional is affected (ie, the "second victim"). Objectives: To investigate the prevalence of health care professionals being personally involved in a patient safety incident (PSI), as well as the relationship of involvement and degree of harm with problematic medication use, excessive alcohol consumption, risk of burnout, work-home interference (WHI), and turnover intentions. Research Design: Multilevel path analyses were conducted to analyze cross-sectional survey data from 37 Belgian hospitals. Subjects: A total of 5788 nurses (79.4%) and physicians (20.6%) in 26 acute and 11 psychiatric hospitals were included. Measures: "Involvement in a patient safety incident during the prior 6 months," "degree of harm," and 5 outcomes were measured using self-report scales. Results: Nine percent of the total sample had been involved in a PSI during the prior 6 months. Involvement in a PSI was related to a greater risk of burnout (?=0.40, OR=2.07), to problematic medication use (?=0.33, OR=1.84), to greater WHI (?=0.24), and to more turnover intentions (?=0.22). Harm to the patient was a predictor of problematic medication use (?=0.14, OR=1.56), risk of burnout (?=0.16, OR=1.62), and WHI (?=0.19). Conclusions: Second victims experience significant negative outcomes in the aftermath of a PSI. An appropriate organizational response should be provided to mitigate the negative effects