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CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · Thorac Cardiovasc Surg 2021; 69(S 03): e61-e67
DOI: 10.1055/s-0041-1736663
Pediatric and Congenital Cardiology

National Survey Regarding Motivation and Conditions of Physicians Working in a Pediatric Cardiac Intensive Care Unit

Anja Hanser 
1   Department for Pediatric Cardiology, Pulmonology and Pediatric Intensive Care Medicine, Universitätsklinikum Tübingen, Tübingen, Baden Württemberg, Germany
,
Michael Hofbeck
1   Department for Pediatric Cardiology, Pulmonology and Pediatric Intensive Care Medicine, Universitätsklinikum Tübingen, Tübingen, Baden Württemberg, Germany
,
Ralf Knies
2   Department for Pediatric Cardiology, Universitätsklinikum Bonn, Bonn, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany
,
Matthias Kumpf
1   Department for Pediatric Cardiology, Pulmonology and Pediatric Intensive Care Medicine, Universitätsklinikum Tübingen, Tübingen, Baden Württemberg, Germany
,
Nicole Müller
2   Department for Pediatric Cardiology, Universitätsklinikum Bonn, Bonn, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany
,
Ellen Heimberg
1   Department for Pediatric Cardiology, Pulmonology and Pediatric Intensive Care Medicine, Universitätsklinikum Tübingen, Tübingen, Baden Württemberg, Germany
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Abstract

Background The professional demands on the expertise in pediatric intensive care have continuously increased in recent years. Due to a lack of applicants, the staffing of a continuous shift service with qualified medical staff poses major challenges to the hospitals.

Methods A web-based questionnaire with 27 predominantly matrix questions on working conditions and motivation for working in this area was sent to pediatric hospitals throughout Germany.

Results 165 doctors responded to the survey. The average age of the participants was 35.2 years. The average weekend work load reported by 79% of the respondents was 2 weekends per month, 70% of the study participants performed five to seven night shifts per month. 92% of the respondents stated that they basically enjoyed working in the intensive care unit (ICU). When asked to prioritize the working conditions, an appreciative working atmosphere in the team was named as priority 1 by 57%, followed by good guidance in the independent performance of interventions (25%) and good working conditions (19%).

Discussion The survey result shows that neither aspects of work–life balance nor payments are the key issues selecting the interesting, but physically and emotionally demanding job in pediatric ICU.

Conclusion When evaluating vocational training in pediatric intensive care medicine, the immediate working atmosphere in the team with mutual respect and understanding and the guidance in training are more important than the general conditions.

Keywords

pediatric cardiac intensive care unit - pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) - working conditions - motivation

Supplementary Material



Publication History

Received: 20 April 2021

Accepted: 30 August 2021

Article published online:
10 December 2021

© 2021. The Author(s). This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)

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