Table 2

Characteristics of study participants

Focus groupsVignette-based interviews
Number of participantsTotal: 26
Hospital 1: 11
Hospital 2*: 5
Hospital 3: 5
Hospital 4: 5		Total: 34†
Hospital 1: 11
Hospital 2: 10
Hospital 3: 7
Hospital 4: 6
Participants’ roles‡Hospital 1: 5 ICU consultants, 2 ICU middle-grade trainees, 1 ICU early-career trainee, 1 clinical microbiologist, 1 ICU pharmacist, 1 health psychologist.
Hospital 2: 1 ICU consultant, 3 ICU pharmacists, 1 infectious diseases consultant.
Hospital 3: 2 ICU middle-grade trainees, 2 ICU pharmacists, 1 nurse.
Hospital 4: 2 ICU consultants, 1 ICU middle-grade trainee, 1 clinical microbiologist, 1 ICU pharmacist.		Hospital 1: 4 ICU consultants, 4 ICU middle-grade trainees§, 3 ICU early-career trainees.
Hospital 2: 3 ICU consultants, 7 ICU middle-grade trainees.
Hospital 3: 2 ICU consultants, 5 ICU middle-grade trainees.
Hospital 4: 2 ICU consultants, 4 ICU early-career trainees.

  • *All clinicians from hospital 2 care for paediatric patients; the remainder treat adults.

  • †Interviews occurred individually except in one case where one early-career trainee and one middle-grade trainee were interviewed together.

  • ‡One consultant from hospital 1 and one from hospital 4 participated in both the focus groups and interviews.

  • §Two middle-grade trainees were only able to complete vignette 1 owing to clinical pressures on the unit.

  • ICU, intensive care unit.