Background: The second victim phenomenon affects the physical and mental health of staff. Patient safety culture and the level of organizational support also affect the second victim experience and its consequences on the staff. This study was conducted to determine the relationship between patient safety culture and second victim experience in critical care unit and emergency department nurses.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was performed on 307 nurses working in the intensive care unit and emergency departments of hospitals affiliated with Zanjan University of Medical Sciences (Zanjan, Iran) in 2019. Data were collected using the Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture (HSOPSC), the Second Victim Experience and Support Tool (SVEST), and a demographic questionnaire. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and the Pearson correlation coefficient. All analyses were carried out at a significance level of 0.05.

Results: There was a significant positive relationship between the patient safety culture and the second victim's supportive sources (P=0.001). However, the patient safety culture had no significant relationship with the second victim's distress rate (P=0.663) and its outcomes (P=0.164).

Conclusion: The results of this study show that improvement of patient safety culture is associated with an increased feeling of support among the nurses, which could ultimately reduce the rate of turnover and absenteeism. Therefore, nursing managers should provide more support to nurses, particularly after the occurrence of patient safety events, for reducing distress and preventing further errors.