Abstract
This study explores the views of intensive care medicine consultants and trainees concerning sources of occupational pressure, the perceived utility and practicability of organisational changes designed to reduce these, and the relevance of these findings for attempts to promote recruitment into and reduce attrition from the specialty. An anonymised postal self-report questionnaire was used to obtain the views of consultants and trainees, using a combination of specifically designed questions and an existing psychological measure. A wide range of sources of occupational pressure was identified, some generic and some more specific to occupational roles and location. Ratings of potential remedial occupational changes revealed that not all those considered to be most useful were considered to be practicable. Self-report data indicated some differences between consultants and trainees. The complex mixture of occupational pressures warns against simplistic introduction of potential interventions and confirms the need to consider different pressures at different career stages. Responsibility for identifying, implementing and evaluating such remedial occupational changes lies at individual, local, professional and managerial levels. It is suggested that the current methodology could be developed to explore similar questions among other medical specialties or healthcare professions.