Explaining emergency physicians' capacity to recover from interruptions.
Journal
Applied ergonomics
ISSN: 1872-9126
Titre abrégé: Appl Ergon
Pays: England
ID NLM: 0261412
Informations de publication
Date de publication:
Nov 2022
Nov 2022
Historique:
received:
25
03
2022
revised:
18
06
2022
accepted:
19
07
2022
medline:
23
10
2023
pubmed:
8
8
2022
entrez:
7
8
2022
Statut:
ppublish
Résumé
To assess whether the capacity to utilize cues amongst emergency physicians is associated with differences in the capacity to recover performance following an interruption. Interruptions are implicated in errors in emergency medicine due to the cognitive load that they impose on working memory, resulting in a loss of performance on the primary task. The utilization of cues is associated with a reduction in cognitive load during the performance of a task, thereby enabling the allocation of residual resources that mitigates the loss of performance following interruptions. Thirty-nine emergency physicians, recruited at a medical conference, completed an assessment of cue utilization (EXPERTise 2.0) and an online simulation (Septris) that involved the management of patients presenting with sepsis. During the simulation, physicians were interrupted and asked to check a medication order. Task performance was assessed using scores on Septris, with points awarded for the accurate management of patients. Emergency physicians with higher cue utilization recorded significantly higher scores on the simulation task following the interruption, compared to physicians with lower cue utilization (p = .028). The results confirm a relationship between cue utilization and the recovery of performance following an interruption. This is likely due to the advantages afforded by associated reductions in cognitive load. Assessments of cue utilization may assist in the development of interventions to support clinicians in interruptive environments.
Sections du résumé
OBJECTIVE
OBJECTIVE
To assess whether the capacity to utilize cues amongst emergency physicians is associated with differences in the capacity to recover performance following an interruption.
BACKGROUND
BACKGROUND
Interruptions are implicated in errors in emergency medicine due to the cognitive load that they impose on working memory, resulting in a loss of performance on the primary task. The utilization of cues is associated with a reduction in cognitive load during the performance of a task, thereby enabling the allocation of residual resources that mitigates the loss of performance following interruptions.
METHOD
METHODS
Thirty-nine emergency physicians, recruited at a medical conference, completed an assessment of cue utilization (EXPERTise 2.0) and an online simulation (Septris) that involved the management of patients presenting with sepsis. During the simulation, physicians were interrupted and asked to check a medication order. Task performance was assessed using scores on Septris, with points awarded for the accurate management of patients.
RESULTS
RESULTS
Emergency physicians with higher cue utilization recorded significantly higher scores on the simulation task following the interruption, compared to physicians with lower cue utilization (p = .028).
CONCLUSION
CONCLUSIONS
The results confirm a relationship between cue utilization and the recovery of performance following an interruption. This is likely due to the advantages afforded by associated reductions in cognitive load.
APPLICATION
CONCLUSIONS
Assessments of cue utilization may assist in the development of interventions to support clinicians in interruptive environments.
Identifiants
pubmed: 35933839
pii: S0003-6870(22)00180-6
doi: 10.1016/j.apergo.2022.103857
pii:
doi:
Types de publication
Journal Article
Langues
eng
Sous-ensembles de citation
IM
Pagination
103857Informations de copyright
Crown Copyright © 2022. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.