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Helping the helpers: debriefing following an adverse incident

^1. St Mary’s Hospital, Milton Road, Portsmouth PO3 6AD, UK
^2. Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Royal Bournemouth Hospital, Castle Lane East, Bournemouth, Dorset BH7 7DW, UK Email: jainsmita{at}hotmail.com (corresponding author)
^3. St. Mary’s Hospital, Portsmouth, UK

Key content:

• A significant proportion of healthcare workers will experience some degree of critical incident stress following adverse events.
  
• Individuals’ responses range from common, uncomplicated stress-related reactions to the more complex post-traumatic stress disorder.
  
• Under-reporting of clinical incidents results mainly from fear of litigation and disciplinary action.
  
• Debriefing should be an essential component of critical incident stress management.
  

Learning objectives:

• To be aware of how healthcare staff can be supported effectively following an adverse incident.
  
• To learn about the seven phases of the Mitchell debriefing model.
  

Ethical issues:

• Disclosure of adverse events all too often results in disciplinary action: this ‘blame culture’ is to the detriment of patients and staff.
  

Please cite this article as: Vaithilingam N, Jain S, Davies D. Helping the helpers: debriefing following an adverse incident. The Obstetrician & Gynaecologist 2008;10:251–256.

Keywords critical incident stress / debriefing / Mitchell model / post-traumatic stress disorder