From 2009 to 2019: what a change!

May 2019 – The New York Times, the International Herald Tribune and the Frankfurter Allgemeine, based on a large survey conducted in the US, Canada, Europe, Australia and China, have concluded that the intensive care unit (ICU) is the most appealing workplace in the world. Financial institutions and the stock exchange had been ranking highest in these regular international surveys until 2008, when they dropped abruptly to the 167th position and were replaced at the top by the workplaces of information technicians, software developers and airline pilots. Professions in health care have been on a steady rise since 2012, reaching top positions in 2015. Schools of medicine, nursing, public health and of other health care professions increased their enrolments by 120% between 2009 and 2015. At the same time, health care systems underwent dramatic improvements in all regions of the world. Not only have professionals in this field gained in recognition, but their workplaces – public hospitals, policlinics and doctors' offices – now resemble modern airports or museums of modern art or the Chancellor's Office in Berlin. These days, waiting lists for nurses wanting to work in the ICU are long and the interest among medical students, residents and board-certified internists, anaesthetists and intensivists to get a post in this part of the hospital is great. Quite a change since 2009, when a significant number of ICU beds were closed in many places, often for prolonged periods, due to a chronic lack of personnel. Nonetheless, the ICUs continued to work smoothly due to the enthusiastic spirit and dedication of mostly the experienced staff and attendants, which kept the group active and the ambiance positive. Finally, was it the shortage of human resources or the ever-increasing administrative hassle, the economic pressure to decrease the cost of everything or the increasing refusal of younger RNs and residents to stay in this 'crazy place', ignoring their dreams and priorities in life, that initiated the radical changes? Not really. In the first place, society has changed. Quite possibly it started in Switzerland, where first, the government was forced to abolish banking secrecy after too many scandals and too much financial turmoil and bankruptcy, and second, a popular vote on 17 May 2009 changed the constitution so that all Swiss would have guaranteed access to 'alternative medicine' in addition to classical, science-based medicine. Soon thereafter, a new party was created in Germany – 'Health now, …