Professional Quality of Life in Intensive Care Medicine: The 2018 Faculty of Intensive Care Medicine Workforce Survey

Background: Critical care is widely perceived, both within and outside of the speciality, as unremitting and emotionally burdensome. There is a perception of a higher risk to medical staff of burnout than other specialities. Critical care also has considerable emotional and professional rewards. We sought to examine this balance between emotional reward and stress in UK critical care consultants registered with the Faculty of Intensive Care Medicine.

Method: We conducted a Wellbeing survey of the Faculty of Intensive Care Medicine consultant membership utilising the Professional Quality of Life (Pro-QOL) survey tool. The survey was conducted as part of the Annual Workforce Census.

Results: In sum, 799 members completed the Pro-QOL survey, making this one of the largest surveys of physician wellbeing in critical care medicine. Data were analysed in accordance with the Pro-QOL manual.

Conclusions: The results demonstrate moderate risk for burnout and secondary traumatic stress, but this is balanced by moderate compassion satisfaction. No association was demonstrated between age, sex, or size of critical care unit worked in. Further follow-up of this consultant group is warranted to better understand risk factors for burnout and for future mitigation of these risk factors whilst also enhancing the positive aspects of working as a consultant in critical care medicine.