Committing errors can result in significant emotional impact on clinicians. In this study, a survey of medical assistants in Germany found that poor collaboration was a key predictor of concerns for having committed a medical error.

… Int J Environ Res Public Health … Work engagement may be a … an important medical error: a cross-sectional study. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022;19(11):6690. …

… effects of flow disruptions in surgery. … Koch A, Burns J, Catchpole K, et al. Associations of workflow disruptions …

Distractions and interruptions have been shown to adversely affect patient safety, but some interruptions may have a positive impact and actually improve care. In this observational study focused on interruptions of doctors and nurses in a single emergency department (ED), researchers found a positive association between interruptions initiated by patients and patient perceptions of ED care quality and efficiency.

Workflow interruptions are often a necessary reality in busy clinical settings, but they can pose serious risks for patient safety. This mixed-method study in a medium-sized community emergency department (ED) found that ED personnels' workflow was disrupted on average 5.6 times per hour and that nearly a third of time was spent on multitasking activities. Similar to a prior study by some of the same authors, interruptions were common and associated with higher perceived workload. In this study, ED professionals' mental workload was negatively related to patients' perceived quality of care and their general satisfaction with their care. However, workflow interruptions were also associated with better patient-related information on discharge and overall quality of transfer, suggesting a more nuanced role for the consequences of interruptions. A prior AHRQ WebM&M perspective discussed interruptions and distractions in health care.

This direct observation study revealed that surgical teams were distracted or interrupted an average of 9.8 times per hour, and these disruptions detracted from interoperative teamwork. Mirroring prior studies, these findings suggest that operating rooms have yet to provide an optimal environment for safe surgery despite efforts to decrease risks.

Symptoms of burnout are significantly more common among physicians compared with the general population. This German time-and-motion study found that multitasking is common among hospital physicians and that time spent multitasking is associated with greater psychological strain. Interestingly, multitasking physicians self-reported superior performance, indicating that physicians may lack insight into the correlation between workload and burnout.

This study found a high frequency of physician workflow interruptions (e.g., telephone and pagers), particularly in intensive care and emergency department settings. The authors suggest that their observation tool may be useful to both identify and drive local opportunities for improvement.