Peer support baseline data report

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Difficult events in patient care impact all staff,
but support from peers can help

New survey data add to the growing evidence that talking to a peer helps alleviate the detrimental stresses that clinicians and staff experience after involvement with a difficult event in patient care.

The data, collected from select units such as intensive care and emergency departments in seven hospitals across the state, also showed that nearly 1-in-2 health care personnel experienced at least one difficult event in a 12-month period, with some reporting four or more such events. Personnel included not just doctors and nurses, but other clinical and non-clinical staff such as members of administrative, transport, security, and other teams.

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Sur­vey find­ings offered insight into dif­fi­cult event expe­ri­ences including:

Frequency: 46% of clinicians and staff experienced a difficult event in the prior year, as did nearly one-third of associate practice providers and other clinical staff, along with 53% of security, 24% of administrative and 46% of other non-clinical staff. Of those who experienced a difficult event, 77% reported two or more such experiences within a year.

Sur­vey find­ings offered insight into dif­fi­cult event expe­ri­ences including:

Emotional impact: Only a small fraction of respondents said they experienced no emotional fallout from the difficult event that occurred. In fact, 60% said they were sad afterwards, 34% reported frustration and 31% anxiety. In addition, 41% lost sleep after the event and 33% of clinical and 28% of non-clinical staff said they experienced a loss of joy from their work. Several of the impacts, including frustration and anxiety, could persist for many months.

Sur­vey find­ings offered insight into dif­fi­cult event expe­ri­ences including:

Coping: The most common approach to managing emotional and other consequences from a difficult event was to talk to someone else. Of that group, 73% turned to a peer. Talking to a peer “definitely helped” 77% of those who used that coping strategy and another 27% thought it “probably helped.” And, among respondents who had not recently experienced a difficult event, 66% suggested their strategy would be to talk to someone else.

The pilot peer support program initiative is part of a larger effort by the Betsy Lehman Center to address the emotional needs of health care professionals, staff, patients, and families.