[Positive feedback for good medical work--a short-supply commodity?]

In a nationwide survey of the working environment of Norwegian physicians every second respondent reported seldom or never being appreciated or praised for good work by their superiors. Nurses, colleagues and auxiliaries are more frequent sources of such appreciation. Very little of the variance in doctors' experience of positive feedback is explained by job variables: a doctor who does not receive supportive feedback cannot attribute this to unwise choice of specialty or type of employer, or to age, sex or position in the hierarchy. The experiences of male and female doctors are very much the same. Whether the doctors are appreciated and praised for good work seems to depend rather on certain traits of their personality.