Critical care leaders around the world are concerned about whether the workforce can expand quickly enough to keep pace with increasing capacity without overwhelming those already providing care.
One of the great privileges of serving as the Society of Critical Care Medicine (SCCM) president has been the opportunity to spend time with critical care professionals around the world. This year, my travels have allowed me to speak with colleagues who work in diverse environments and healthcare systems, with varying resources, infrastructure, and governmental support. Despite these differences, I have been struck by how often we face the same challenges and, more importantly, by our shared desire to learn from one another, exchange experiences, and work together to find solutions.
Access to critical care is one of those universal challenges. In China, significant efforts are underway to expand critical care capacity, including rural and under-resourced areas. During my recent visit to Indonesia, I heard similar ambitions at the national critical care meeting in Palembang, where the Minister of Health discussed plans to build new hospitals and rapidly expand healthcare capacity over the next few years. Yet those plans are only part of the equation. The more important question is: who will care for the patients in those new hospitals?
Around the world, aging populations and the growing burden of chronic disease are causing an increase in the number of complex, critically ill patients and the need for highly trained multiprofessional teams. At the same time, shortages of nurses and intensivists and other critical care professionals are placing a tremendous strain on the workforce. These shortages are associated with higher complication rates, increased mortality, longer ICU and hospital stays, and fewer opportunities for robust communication with patients and families. The resulting moral and psychological distress among the critical care team can further accelerate burnout, creating a vicious cycle that threatens both clinician well-being and patient care. As experienced clinicians leave the beside and fewer trainees enter our high-intensity specialty, workforce shortages become even more difficult to overcome.
Most countries face the challenge of recruiting, training, and retaining enough critical care professionals to meet the growing demand. Critical care leaders around the world are concerned about whether the workforce can expand quickly enough to keep pace with increasing capacity without overwhelming those already providing care. The solution is not to simply train more clinicians. We must also inspire younger generations to pursue careers in critical care while creating work environments that support and retain the experienced professionals who form the clinical, operational, and educational backbone of the ICUs.
Many discussions with global critical care leaders explored innovative approaches to expand the future workforce. One recurring theme was the need to raise public awareness of critical care medicine itself. Popular television shows such as
ER,
Grey’s Anatomy, and, more recently,
The Pitt have increased public understanding of emergency medicine and inspired many young people to pursue healthcare careers. If we hope to attract the next generation of critical care professionals, we must help them see not only the challenges of our field, but also its purpose, impact, and extraordinary opportunities to make a difference in the lives of patients and families.
There are many opportunities to inspire future clinicians. Structured shadowing experiences for undergraduate and preprofessional students can provide firsthand exposure to teamwork, technology, and high-impact decision-making that define critical care. During my travels, I was particularly impressed regarding how many countries actively engage medical students in their national intensive care congresses. Being paired with a faculty member provides an opportunity for a student to interact directly with faculty, engage in scientific discussions, and gain early exposure to the specialty. Such experiences help demystify critical care medicine, foster mentorship, and spark interest in careers that students might not otherwise encounter until much later in their training.
While discussing these challenges, other opportunities for collaboration also emerged. Many representatives from critical care societies around the world described ongoing efforts to collect and integrate data locally, regionally, nationally, and across borders. Many registries are maturing and increasingly serving as platforms for benchmarking, quality improvement, and research. Building these systems successfully requires attention not only to technology and interoperability, but also to data quality, governance, ownership, privacy, and long-term stewardship.
Although concern about workforce retention was universal, it was equally clear that no simple solution exists. More staffing, better compensation, greater opportunities for professional growth, safer workplaces, and less burdensome documentation are all part of the answer. Progress will require coordinated efforts spanning healthcare financing, workforce planning, education, policy, and public awareness, many of which lie beyond the immediate influence of individual clinicians or professional societies. Yet there are actions within our reach. Recognizing the contributions of our colleagues, supporting one another, and fostering healthy professional environments can help sustain the workforce we already have.
Another important topic raised during my travels was sustainability. As countries build new hospitals and expand critical care capacity, they have a unique opportunity to proactively incorporate principles from Green ICU initiatives and other sustainability efforts advanced by critical care organizations and the World Health Organization. Embedding sustainable design, equipment, and technology can reinforce sustainable behavior and practices that will create healthcare systems that are both resilient and environmentally responsible.
What I find especially encouraging is the willingness to share what works. A workforce strategy developed in one region may offer valuable lessons for another. Approaches to expanding critical care beyond major urban centers may help address similar challenges elsewhere. Innovations in addressing workforce shortages, data registries, quality improvement, education, and sustainable infrastructure can generate ideas and solutions that transcend geographic boundaries. The challenges we face are often more universal than we realize.
That exchange of ideas is where SCCM has an important role to play.
As Select members, many of us are leading programs, conducting research, educating the next generation, and making decisions about how critical care evolves within our own institutions. We can contribute by sharing our experiences and insights while remaining equally willing to learn from colleagues working in very different environments and circumstances.
We can foster this exchange by sharing our own experiences and perspectives with the SCCM community. If your team has developed a new approach, has learned lessons that others might find valuable, or has a story about the evolution of critical care, I encourage you to share it through
Critical Connections. Sharing our successes, setbacks, and insights strengthens both our own practice and the global critical care community as a whole.
My travels this year have reinforced my strong belief: progress in critical care depends on bringing together ideas, experiences, and expertise from every region and every profession. Innovation can emerge anywhere, and learning must flow in every direction. We have much to learn from one another, and SCCM can help create the connections that make this possible.
Sources
- ANZCIS, Intensive Care Society. A Beginners Guide to: Green teams in the ICU. Accessed October 19, 2026. https://www.anzics.org/public/311/files/PDFs/Green_Teams_ in_the_ICU_ANZICS_and_ICS.pdf
- Domico M, Meyer MJ, Blackburn L, et al. Environmental Sustainability in ICUs: A Report From the Society of Critical Care Medicine Sustainability Task Force. Crit Care Med. Accessed October 19, 2026. 2025;53(3):e632-e644. https://doi.org/10.1097/CCM.0000000000006581
- De Waele JJ, Hunfield N, Baid H, et al. Environmental sustainability in intensive care: the path forward. An ESICM Green Paper. Intensive Care Med. 2024 Nov;50(11):1729-1739. doi: 10.1007/s00134-024-07662-7
