Wow! eBook
Contemplating the Role of an Intensive Care Doctor: A Fieldwork Guide to Intensive Care Medicine
Author(s): Diane Dennis (Editor), Peter Vernon van Heerden (Editor), Michael Ruppe (Editor)
- Publisher: Springer
- Publication Date: August 31, 2025
- Language: English
- Print length: 220 pages
- ISBN-10: 3031927656
- ISBN-13: 9783031927652
Book Description
The intensive care unit (ICU) is a specialized hospital ward where people with life threatening conditions receive around-the-clock monitoring and life support. It is here that the sickest of the sick patients are managed, and there is a large spectrum of challenging working conditions that may cause significant psychological stress to those who function in them. There is a growing body of evidence supporting the increasing prevalence of mental health issues among the medical fraternity. The notion of professional burnout syndrome in the intensive care specialty is well described in the literature and is perceived to be due to the workload and acuity of the field.
Contemplating the Role of the Intensive Care Doctor brings together an experienced group of intensivists and other clinicians to provide further commentary related to the observations and generous reflections of those interviewed. The main focus is on the need for young doctors to contemplate their own personality and the intensive care environment itself to prepare themselves to work within the specialty and have longevity and good health while doing so.
The book is comprised of eighteen chapters that explore personality traits, various allocations of role, the working environment, and the complex nature of communication between peers, teams, and families. It aims to facilitate the resilience of young doctors by challenging their perception of themselves and of those around them. We hope that by exploring these narratives, these doctors will be better prepared to manage their potential vulnerability within the ICU medical team.
Editorial Reviews
From the Back Cover
The intensive care unit (ICU) is a specialized hospital ward where people with life threatening conditions receive around-the-clock monitoring and life support. It is here that the sickest of the sick patients are managed, and there is a large spectrum of challenging working conditions that may cause significant psychological stress to those who function in them. There is a growing body of evidence supporting the increasing prevalence of mental health issues among the medical fraternity. The notion of professional burnout syndrome in the intensive care specialty is well described in the literature and is perceived to be due to the workload and acuity of the field.
Contemplating the Role of the Intensive Care Doctor brings together an experienced group of intensivists and other clinicians to provide further commentary related to the observations and generous reflections of those interviewed. The main focus is on the need for young doctors to contemplate their own personality and the intensive care environment itself to prepare themselves to work within the specialty and have longevity and good health while doing so.
The book is comprised of eighteen chapters that explore personality traits, various allocations of role, the working environment, and the complex nature of communication between peers, teams, and families. It aims to facilitate the resilience of young doctors by challenging their perception of themselves and of those around them. We hope that by exploring these narratives, these doctors will be better prepared to manage their potential vulnerability within the ICU medical team.
About the Author
Diane Dennis BSc, PhD, FHEA
Head of Physiotherapy Department
Sir Charles Gairdner and Osborne Park Healthcare Group, Nedlands, 6009, Perth, Western Australia, Australia
Peter Vernon van Heerden, MBBCh, MMed(Anaes), PhD
Department of Anesthesiology, Critical Care and Pain Medicine
Hadassah Medical Center, Jerusalem, Israel
Michael Ruppe, MD
Division of Critical Care, Department of Pediatrics
University of Louisville, and Norton Children’s Medical Group, Louisville, KY, USA
