Patient Safety is a Priority in Europe and has grown over the years. Nevertheless, each year between 8 and 12% of people admitted to hospital and around 6% of those in primary care suffer from adverse effects (AE) while receiving health care. The second victim is a health care provider and caregiver who is involved in an unforeseen adverse event, medical error or injury affecting a patient, who suffers in the sense that they are polluted by it.
Many studies of the second victim have been studied largely in the US, and in Europe, the problem of medical errors has not been studied at EU level in a systematic way. Progress on work on this topic has been slow and justifies the need for further understanding of factors leading to secondary self-efficacy.
The European Barometer reveals that 53% of EU citizens believe patients could be harmed by hospital care.
Last September, during the inaugural Steering Committee meeting, the European Network of Researchers Working on Second Victims (ERNST) was born in this context. ERNST continues to strengthen the resilience of health care workers in difficult events as a prerequisite for providing the best possible care to patients. Understanding the causes of this miracle and opening a debate to break the taboo around medical errors that lead to second victims is the challenges this new Action will focus on for the next four years. ahead.
Action ERNST COST aims to share scientific knowledge, perspectives, legislation, regulations, and best practices regarding event advertising in health care facilities. This transnational collaboration brings together research teams from 27 European countries, as well as experts from the US, Japan and, Latin America. 92 professionals from universities, healthcare and research institutes, worldwide, will establish a deeper understanding of the complexity of those issues that require a multidisciplinary approach.
How did the idea of creating an international network of second victims come about?
“The germ of this European project was established at a meeting held on 19 and 20 July 2018 in Alicante (Spain). Some leaders of the current ERNST Working Groups and members of the Spanish team took part in the first Vanhaecht (KULeuven, Belgium) had in several previous meetings already suggested that we should cooperate in Europe, at which time there were only a few research teams on the second victim. and the investigations were just beginning, now the situation is completely different, there are new teams, new experiences in health centers and it is understood that supporting professionals means working on quality care, which works for the benefit of patients ERNST has almost all the teams that are trying to increase the stability of professionals in conditions.we have a network that is co able to identify appropriate solutions. In addition, we are supported by researchers from other countries outside Europe who are leading h research in this area worldwide and whose leadership strengthens our ability to to work in this field. “said Professor José Joaquín MIRA, Chairman of the Act.
The direct effects of the second victim’s shock cause insecurity in the provision of health care, loss of quality of care provided, absenteeism, immunosuppressive therapy, burn-in half, and inappropriate risk management, an avoidable burden of human cost, separation, and loss of reputation at the institutional level.
Understanding factors that cause healthcare provider errors, embedding an innocent patient safety culture, and developing a legal assurance framework in a health care context can enhance the care provider’s commitment to ensure patient safety and reduce SV-related trauma.
Professor José Joaquín MIRA, as Chair of the Action, said: “Our mission is to generate a space for the exchange of ideas, exchange experiences and open controversy on how safety incidents limit the capacity of healthcare teams and professionals. We want to increase understanding of this wonder and inform the public and patients and data to raise awareness of current safety incidents We want to engage in these discussions with all stakeholders such as academia and legislators, clinicians, managers, practitioners policy making and patient associations.Analyzing the wonder of the second victim, conceptualizing it (which also means looking for alternatives to the second victim term), is a measuring its impact and developing interventions to reduce its impact also works to benefit the quality of care patients receive “.
During the first semester of 2021, the Action Network has begun its activities marked by the impact of COVID-19 pandemic disease on health systems and society as a whole. The ERNST approach to caring for those who care for patients becomes more meaningful when we consider that healthcare workers are the second victim of SARS -CoV-2.
The Action has also joined the new COST Network Actions against COVID-19 interdisciplinary network collecting useful information and details of all the actions that want to connect and cooperate.
Branching out
Next March, the network will host an international forum: ‘Caring for carers: lessons learned from the COVID-19 Pandemic’.
Source:
European Cooperation in Science and Technology (COST)