Medication Errors: The School Nurse as Second Victim

Abstract

Medication errors occur in the school setting as they do in other healthcare settings. In this article, three accounts of school nurse medication errors are presented. School nurses often undergo emotional trauma after a mistake is made. Other fields of healthcare are incorporating the second victim phenomena in their responses to errors, with the patient as the first victim and the caregiver who made the mistake as the second. Researchers have identified six stages of the second victim’s journey. School nurses and administrators would benefit from understanding and utilizing this model.