Citation

El Hechi M, Bohnen JD, Westfal M, Han K, Cauley C, Wright C, Schulz J, Mort E, Ferris T, Lillemoe KD, Kaafarani HM. J. Am. Coll. Surg. 2019; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Affiliation

Department of Surgery, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA; Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA; Center for Outcomes & Patient Safety in Surgery (COMPASS), Massachusetts General Surgery, Boston, MA. Electronic address: hkaafarani@mgh.harvard.edu.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, American College of Surgeons, Publisher Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.jamcollsurg.2019.10.015

PMID

31857209

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Surgeons are prone to feelings of sadness, guilt, and anxiety when involved in major adverse events. We aimed to create and evaluate a second victim peer support program for surgeons and surgical trainees. STUDY DESIGN: The second victim peer-support program was an intervention performed in the Department of Surgery at a tertiary care academic medical center. Surgical attendings and trainees participated as peer supporters or affected peers. In this work, we describe the design of the program and its one-year impact. The program's impact was evaluated through 1) the number of interventions attempted and realized, and 2) feedback received from all participants using an anonymous qualitative and quantitative survey.

RESULTS: The program was established using 5 steps: 1) creation of a conceptual framework, 2) choice of peer supporters, 3) training of peer supporters, 4) multi-faceted identification of major adverse events, and 5) design of a systematic intervention plan. In one year, the program had 47 interventions distributed evenly between attendings and trainees; 19% of affected peers opted out of receiving support. Most participants expressed satisfaction with the program's confidentiality, the safe/trusting environment it provided, and the timeliness of the intervention (89%, 73%, and 83%, respectively); 81% suggested that the program had a positive impact on the department's "safety and support" culture and would recommend the program to a colleague. Several areas for improvement were identified, including the need to improve identification of events requiring outreach, and the desire for increased awareness of the program throughout the department.

CONCLUSIONS: We successfully designed, implemented, and assessed the impact of the first surgery-specific peer support program in the US. Our one-year experience suggests that the program is highly utilized and well-received, albeit with opportunities for improvement.

Copyright © 2019. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Language: en