From the Massachusetts Nurse Newsletter
October 2008 Edition
Medically Induced Trauma Support Services, MITSS, is a nonprofit organization founded in 2002 to support healing to patients, families and clinicians who have been affected by an adverse medical event.
Founder Linda Kenney, who suffered a cardiac arrest from an adverse event at Brigham & Women’s in Boston, went on to found the program while recovering from the physical and psychological aftermath of her ordeal. She has developed a national and international awareness of the peer support, educational and informational offerings of MITSS. The program has been featured in the Wall Street Journal and other well known publications.
MNA has been supportive of the development of MITSS over the years and MNA Nursing Division Director Dorothy McCabe continues to serve on the MITSS board. MITSS offers confidential telephone support for all caregivers, including nurses, physicians, and other health care providers (call 888.36MITSS or 888.366.4877).
MITSS also offers education on the value of apology and peer support to healthcare institutions, nursing support groups, in addition to a Web site with many useful links. The organization is working on further measures to better support clinicians.
Recent developments include two MITSS blog spots; one for patients and families and another for clinicians, which they are encouraged to visit and use for postings. See http://mitssclinicians.blogspot.com (Note: Bloggers are urged by MNA to keep their posting identity confidential).
For more information, contact Winifred Tobin, MITSS communications director, at 617.232.0090 or wtobin@mitss.org or Mary Crotty at MNA at 781.830.5743 mcrotty@mnarn.org.
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