Peer support in acute medicine

Acute medicine as a high-risk area always requires a high degree of professionalism from the medical staff. High demands and complex clinical pictures constantly present employees with difficult challenges. They often lead to acute stress and can lead to chronic stress. In addition, particularly critical or potentially traumatic events can occur at any time and deeply affect those involved - may such events be caused by ill fate or by possible treatment errors. They can also cause acute mental disabilities and intense emotions in routine staff. In terms of activity-related mental stress, this is called secondary traumatisation. In the following, an overall concept for dealing with serious events and first experiences with a so-called peer support system in medicine will be presented. This system is a helpful tool to reduce the consequences of mental stress in the workplace in medicine. The concept of the peer is the decisive approach. The peer has the expertise of a colleague, but is also trained to deal with colleagues in acute stress situations. In addition, the integration of a peer structure is also to the benefit of the employer, who not only fulfils his legal obligations, but also makes a significant contribution to employee welfare and patient safety.