The Different Challenges in Being an Adult Versus a Pediatric Intensivist.

Area of Science:

• Critical Care Medicine
• Psychology
• Occupational Health

Background:

• Limited research exists on stress, burnout, and resilience differences between pediatric and adult intensive care unit (ICU) providers.
• This study analyzes a 2018 qualitative dataset to explore these potential disparities.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare stress, burnout, and resilience perceptions between pediatric and adult intensive care practitioners.
• To identify unique challenges and differences in how clinicians in these distinct domains process stressors.

Main Methods:

• Thematic subanalysis of textual data from a larger qualitative study on ICU provider burnout and resilience.
• Data collected via semistructured interviews across six international critical care units.
• Secondary analysis performed on separate pediatric and adult datasets using a postpositivist framework.

Main Results:

• Three key themes emerged: patient characteristics, staff-family relationships, and individual clinician biases.
• Pediatric and adult practitioners differed in perceptions of patient responsibility for illness and emotional responses to child abuse.
• Unique stressors in pediatrics included family expectations of survival in dire situations; both groups found the opposite role challenging.

Conclusions:

• Despite shared stressors, significant differences exist in how pediatric and adult intensive care practitioners perceive and personally process them.
• Understanding these nuanced differences is crucial for enhancing clinician resilience.
• This knowledge can inform career guidance for aspiring intensive care clinicians.