Table 2. The range of emotions expressed by residents prior to their PICU rotation and related exemplars.

Emotional range	Exemplars
Fear and terror related to a perceived lack of knowledge and expected physical and emotional depletion	“I've heard some of the surgical attendings are maybe a little bit intimidating.” (EM4) “[I'm] a little terrified about the 28 [hour calls].” (EM5) “I would say maybe a little bit of dread.” (EM6) “So probably [I feel] both fear and excitement.” (PM2) “So, I've been waffling back and forth between excited and terrified.” (PM3) “I'm terrified *laughs*. We can start there.” (PM5) “I think just [due to] a lack of familiarity with the PICU, [I feel] a bit of a fear, just from a knowledge standpoint.” (PM6) “I guess somebody coming in acutely and I don't know what to do, is probably my biggest fear. Like in my head I imagine PICU as like just people - kids - rolling in just like sick out of their mind, and … you're having to fix them right away.” (PM8)
Anxiety, worry, and apprehension, related to the anticipation of caring for patients with high acuity levels in a complex environment	“A little bit nervous about it. Um, we do get some experience working with kids in the pediatric ED. But really sick kids make me nervous …. I'm just worried about not knowing what to do if a kids really sick and I don't want like any delay in care, because I don't know what to do.” (EM1) “I'm feeling pretty anxious … super sick kids, ventilators and things that we don't really deal with, makes me pretty anxious.” (EM2) “I feel nervous about the rotation. I know that it's really time intensive and that like sick kids tend to be like sort of scarier than sick adults.” (EM3) “I think we all just kind of lament about how scared we are and nervous and whatever.” (PM3) “My body anxiety level is really high about it.” (PM5) “I think like most rotations that are new to me, um [I feel] a little bit of nervousness and apprehension.” (PM6) “I'm just worried about getting overwhelmed by everything.” (PM7) “[I'm] anxious just because it seems like it's a lot of go go go go go.” (PM8)
Excitement and eagerness for a beneficial learning experience	“I'm hoping to learn a lot …. I've talked to someone who's on the rotation now and he said that you'll learn a lot and it is a good rotation, but it can be exhausting, physically and mentally.” (EM1) “… but I'm looking forward to learning.” (EM2) “Excited to learn some new stuff … looking forward to kind of growing and … starting to feel a bit more comfortable with that aspect of medicine.” (EM4) “I'm excited, because I feel like haven't had a lot of experience with kids in critical care.” (EM5) “[I feel] energized …. I think because it's new, I'll probably learn a lot.” (PM6) “I would say nervous is probably the most overarching word, but just kind of eager to get started at the same time. I think there's going to be a lot of interesting cases and lots of good learning.” (PM7) “I would say excitedly anxious? Like I'm excited to learn different pathophysiology in a more acute setting.” (PM8)

Abbreviations: ED, emergency department; EM, emergency medicine residents; PICU, pediatric intensive care unit; PM, pediatric medicine residents.