Interrupted care. The effects of paging on pediatric resident activities
Blum, N.J.; Lieu, T.A.
American Journal of Diseases of Children 146(7): 806-808
1992
ISSN/ISBN: 0002-922X PMID: 1496947 Document Number: 397280
Objective: To determine the content and urgency of pages and their effect on the activities of pediatric residents. Design: Prospective survey. Setting: University-affiliated teaching hospital. Participants: Seventeen pediatric residents on regular pediatric services. Interventions: None. Measurements/Main Results: On daily logs, interns recorded the activity interrupted by a page and rated the urgency and importance of the page. Almost half of all pages interrupted patient care activities, and 24% interrupted scheduled work rounds or teaching conferences. Interns reported that 34% of pages resulted in a change in patient treatment, but they rated 25% of all pages as unimportant. Conclusions: "Beepers" frequently interrupt pediatric residents involved in patient care activities and scheduled educational conferences. Studies of interventions aimed at decreasing unnecessary interruptions by pages are needed.