Collegial help (KoHi)-Description of an interventional program to reduce the impact of stressful work situations in terms of the second victim phenomenon among personnel with direct patient contact at the Clinic Hietzing, Vienna, Austria (KoHi-II study)

An unanticipated clinical incident can lead to traumatization of medical personnel with psychological and physical reactions (second victim phenomenon). Peer-to-peer counselling uses standardized procedures and seems to be a suitable low-threshold strategy to psychologically and emotionally relieve colleagues. In the Clinic Hietzing, Vienna, a comprehensive program to support staff members after stressful events in the sense of the second victim phenomenon was implemented in the period from 2019 to 2021. The aim of this program, which was the first of its kind in Germany, was to collect valid data regarding the prevalence of the second victim phenomenon and on the intervention effect of "Collegial help" (KoHi). In a multistage process approximately 2800 employees from all occupational groups and departments were interviewed using the second victim in Germany (SeViD) questionnaire. Subsequently, 122 persons were trained as collegial helpers in a 5-h training course, so that they could then conduct psychological counselling sessions and initial measures. Before and after each training session, participants were asked in a written survey about their expectations and the skills they had acquired as well as their self-efficacy. The most common reasons for participating in the training were ethical/altruistic in nature and the desire to increase the own competence. The motivation, which was already very high at the beginning, was further increased by the training intervention. After the training 96% of the participants felt competent enough to inform their colleagues about the relevance of the second victim issue. Furthermore, a systematic evaluation of all KoHi interventions via telephone supervision was established, firstly, to relieve the collegial helpers and secondly to provide further psychological support to the second victims if necessary. Approximately 3 years after the first baseline survey, a second survey was conducted in order to evaluate the annual prevalence of the second victim phenomenon, the increase in knowledge and awareness as well as the use of the existing support services.