[Evaluation of a Peer Support Concept for Coping with Distressing Events]

Emotionally stressful events are part of everyday working life for employees of psychiatric clinics and are risk factors for stress syndromes. At the Mainkofen District Hospital, a specially trained team (SkN - System of Collegial Aftercare) supports employees coping with such incidents. Experiences with the SkN team were evaluated as part of an anonymized online survey. Significant differences were found between individual professional groups and hospital departments in terms of information and previous experience with SkN. Among the respondents, 58% had already experienced stressful events, and more than a quarter reacted with moderate to severe psychological complaints. Around 28% had made use oft the SkN service. Satisfaction with the support experienced was very high. The feedback underlines the importance of prompt and low-threshold support services following emotionally stressful events, even for employees with a great deal of previous professional expertise.