Multitasking behaviors and provider outcomes in emergency department physicians: two consecutive, observational and multi-source studies.
Clinical care
Cognitive systems
Emergency medicine
Multitasking
Observation
Physicians
Situation awareness
Work stress
Journal
Scandinavian journal of trauma, resuscitation and emergency medicine
ISSN: 1757-7241
Titre abrégé: Scand J Trauma Resusc Emerg Med
Pays: England
ID NLM: 101477511
Informations de publication
Date de publication:
07 Jan 2021
07 Jan 2021
Historique:
received:
09
07
2020
accepted:
13
12
2020
entrez:
8
1
2021
pubmed:
9
1
2021
medline:
18
5
2021
Statut:
epublish
Résumé
Multitasking is a key skill for emergency department (ED) providers. Yet, potentially beneficial or debilitating effects for provider functioning and cognition are underexplored. We therefore aimed to investigate the role of multitasking for ED physicians' work stress and situation awareness (SA). Two consecutive, multi-source studies utilizing standardized expert observations in combination with physicians' self-reports on stress and SA were set out in an academic ED. To control for ED workload, measures of patient acuity, patient counts, and ED staff on duty were included. Regression analyses estimated associations between observed proportion of time spent in multitasking with matched ED physicians' reports on stress (study 1) and SA (study 2). ED physicians engaged between 18.7% (study 1) and 13.0% (study 2) of their worktime in multitasking. Self-reported as well as expert-observed multitasking were significantly associated. This confirms the internal validity of our observational approach. After controlling for ED workload, we found that physicians who engaged more frequently in multitasking perceived higher work stress (Beta = .02, 95%CI .001-.03; p = .01). In study 2, ED physicians with more frequent multitasking behaviors reported higher SA (B = .08, 95%CI .02-.14; p = .009). Multitasking is often unavoidable in ED care. Our findings suggest that ED physicians' multitasking increases stress experiences, yet, may facilitate professional's experiences of situation awareness. Our results warrant further investigation into potentially ambivalent effects of ED providers' multitasking in effectively sharing time between competing demands while maintaining performance and safety.
Sections du résumé
BACKGROUND
BACKGROUND
Multitasking is a key skill for emergency department (ED) providers. Yet, potentially beneficial or debilitating effects for provider functioning and cognition are underexplored. We therefore aimed to investigate the role of multitasking for ED physicians' work stress and situation awareness (SA).
METHODS
METHODS
Two consecutive, multi-source studies utilizing standardized expert observations in combination with physicians' self-reports on stress and SA were set out in an academic ED. To control for ED workload, measures of patient acuity, patient counts, and ED staff on duty were included. Regression analyses estimated associations between observed proportion of time spent in multitasking with matched ED physicians' reports on stress (study 1) and SA (study 2).
RESULTS
RESULTS
ED physicians engaged between 18.7% (study 1) and 13.0% (study 2) of their worktime in multitasking. Self-reported as well as expert-observed multitasking were significantly associated. This confirms the internal validity of our observational approach. After controlling for ED workload, we found that physicians who engaged more frequently in multitasking perceived higher work stress (Beta = .02, 95%CI .001-.03; p = .01). In study 2, ED physicians with more frequent multitasking behaviors reported higher SA (B = .08, 95%CI .02-.14; p = .009).
CONCLUSIONS
CONCLUSIONS
Multitasking is often unavoidable in ED care. Our findings suggest that ED physicians' multitasking increases stress experiences, yet, may facilitate professional's experiences of situation awareness. Our results warrant further investigation into potentially ambivalent effects of ED providers' multitasking in effectively sharing time between competing demands while maintaining performance and safety.
Identifiants
pubmed: 33413575
doi: 10.1186/s13049-020-00824-8
pii: 10.1186/s13049-020-00824-8
pmc: PMC7792086
doi:
Types de publication
Journal Article
Observational Study
Langues
eng
Sous-ensembles de citation
IM
Pagination
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