Workflow interruptions and mental workload in hospital pediatricians: an observational study

BMC Health Services Research

Florian Hoffmann¹  Peter Angerer³  Andreas Müller³  Matthias Weigl² 

[1] Dr. von Hauner University Children’s Hospital, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany;Institute and Outpatient Clinic for Occupational, Social, and Environmental Medicine, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany;Institute for Occupational and Social Medicine, University of Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany

关键词: Work life;    Observation;    Hospital pediatricians;    Workload;    Workflow interruptions;   

Others  :  1126163
DOI  :  10.1186/1472-6963-14-433

 received in 2014-05-22, accepted in 2014-09-11,  发布年份 2014

【 摘 要 】

Background

Pediatricians’ workload is increasingly thought to affect pediatricians’ quality of work life and patient safety. Workflow interruptions are a frequent stressor in clinical work, impeding clinicians’ attention and contributing to clinical malpractice. We aimed to investigate prospective associations of workflow interruptions with multiple dimensions of mental workload in pediatricians during clinical day shifts.

Methods

In an Academic Children’s Hospital a prospective study of 28 full shift observations was conducted among pediatricians providing ward coverage. The prevalence of workflow interruptions was based on expert observation using a validated observation instrument. Concurrently, Pediatricians’ workload ratings were assessed with three workload dimensions of the well-validated NASA-Task Load Index: mental demands, effort, and frustration.

Results

Observed pediatricians were, on average, disrupted 4.7 times per hour. Most frequent were interruptions by colleagues (30.2%), nursing staff (29.7%), and by telephone/beeper calls (16.3%). Interruption measures were correlated with two workload outcomes of interest: frequent workflow interruptions were related to less cognitive demands, but frequent interruptions were associated with increased frustration. With regard to single sources, interruptions by colleagues showed the strongest associations to workload.

Conclusions

The findings provide insights into specific pathways between different types of interruptions and pediatricians’ mental workload. These findings suggest further research and yield a number of work and organization re-design suggestions for pediatric care.

【 授权许可】

   
2014 Weigl et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.

【 图 表 】

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