Information letter

My name is Lucienne Quintano and I am currently reading for a Master of Science in Leadership and Management at the University of Malta. This research aims to study the second victim phenomenon among medical practitioners, pharmacists and nurses in Malta.

A second victim can be defined as any healthcare worker, directly or indirectly involved in an unanticipated adverse patient event, unintentional healthcare error, or patient injury and who becomes victimised in the sense that they are also negatively impacted.

Key incidents leading to the second victim phenomenon, irrespective of being directly or indirectly involved, may include:
  • Incident with patient harm
  • Incident without patient harm (near miss)
  • Unexpected death/ suicide of a patient
  • Unexpected death/ suicide of a colleague
  • Aggressive patients or relatives
Second victims usually face a range of symptoms such as fear of being excluded by colleagues, fear of legal action and losing the job, concentration difficulties, feelings of shame, guilt, self doubt, aggression, or overly cautious defensive behaviour. Healthcare systems should establish different support programmes to help them from two levels, namely from a personal level and also from a professional level.

As part of this study you are invited to complete this survey, which will take approximately 8 minutes. Any data collected from this survey will be used solely for the purposes of this study. There are no direct benefits or anticipated risks in taking part, however this study will provide insight about the second victim phenomenon in Malta.


Results will be used to make recommendations for improvement of services and the establishment of support programmes for healthcare professionals who experience this phenomenon. Participation is entirely voluntary, i.e., you are free to accept or refuse to participate.

At no point will you be asked to provide your name or any other personal data that may lead to you being identified. Furthermore, you may skip over any questions that you do not wish to answer, or go back to them. If you wish to participate in this study, please click the button that says “yes”. If you do not wish to participate please click “no".

Should you have any questions or concerns, you may contact myself on lucienne.quintano.96@um.edu.mt or my research supervisor Dr. Patricia Vella Bonanno on patricia.vella-bonanno@um.edu.mt

Yours Sincerely,

Lucienne Quintano



Declaration by respondent: I hereby confirm that I am 18 years of age or older. I am aware that completing and submitting this anonymous questionnaire implies that I am participating voluntarily and with full informed consent on the conditions listed above.

Question Title

* 1. I agree to participate

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