Trainee Doctorsâ?? Perception of the Adequacy of Support during their Intensive Care Attachment - a Phenomenological Study

Background: There is a paucity of research into the clinical support that junior doctors receive during their Intensive Care rotation and how the culture and environment support Trainees’ learning. Objectives: The aim was to evaluate the factors which influenced junior trainees learning and ability to effectively perform on a daily basis within the stressful Intensive Care environment. Also, the perception of junior non-anaesthetic trainees’ educational support during their Intensive Care attachment. Methods: The phenomenological psychological method as outlined by Larsson et al 2006, was used. Six (6) out of (7) junior doctors were interviewed in February 2014 and the analysis was transcribed by the author after listening to the audio recordings and the structure of meaning of a phenomenon and the analysis consists of five steps, presented below. The stepwise procedure is close to Giorgi’s 1997, descriptive phenomenological method which allows for the researcher’s interpretation of the data. Results: There was an 86% response rate from the trainees, the themes affecting learning included: Authority, Hierarchy, Safety, Intimidating environment, Disorientation, Friendliness, limited member of the team, Dreading on-call duties, communication and consultant input. Conclusion: The author suggested a ‘tripod of critical care support’ with the junior doctor at the apex and three arms of support comprising; the nurses, consultants and the intensive care environment. These three components combine to form the ‘critical care culture’ which trains, nurtures and support critical care doctors.

Author(s):

Dale Ventour and Rebecca O’Rourke

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