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

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.