Physicians Coping After A Medical Error
A failed treatment, a surgical complication, a medical error, a patient death. When the going gets tough, even the toughest clinicians should get help.
Physicians and nurses who feel personally responsible for a medical error [1] or a patient’s injury face an immediate quandary—their next patient. In the midst of your angst and guilt, do you suck it up and soldier on? Quit medical practice? Work overtime to avoid having time to think about it? Take time off until you’re not distracted? Keep quiet and protect your career? Talk to a colleague and protect your sanity?