[Motivation and psychological suitability for work in a pediatric intensive care unit]

During interviews with physicians and nurses on the general pediatric intensive care unit (ICU) of the University of Heidelberg Children's Hospital personnel reported on various aspects of their work. One complex of questions dealt with the motivation to work in intensive medicine. Physicians and nurses showed different patterns of motivation. Physicians could be clearly divided into those who found intensive medicine fascinating and those who tended to fear it. Nurses' motivation is multifaceted and differentiated. The information gained from the interviews questions the sense of obligating physicians without interest or aptitude to rotate to an ICU during their specialty training in pediatrics. This policy is associated with corresponding risks for patients. The work of often superiorly qualified nurses becomes more difficult.