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Related Experiment Videos

Interruptive communication patterns in the intensive care unit ward round.

George Alvarez1, Enrico Coiera

  • 1The Centre of Health Informatics, University of New South Wales, NSW 2055, Australia. drgeorgealvarez@hotmail.com

International Journal of Medical Informatics
|July 19, 2005
PubMed
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Healthcare staff in intensive care units (ICUs) spend most of their time communicating. This study found that both conversation-initiating and turn-taking interruptions occur frequently, suggesting a high interruption burden.

Area of Science:

  • Healthcare communication
  • Clinical workflow analysis
  • Intensive care unit (ICU) operations

Background:

  • Communication is critical in intensive care units (ICUs).
  • Previous studies focused on conversation-initiating interruptions.
  • The frequency of turn-taking interruptions in clinical settings remains under-examined.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To explore interruptive communication patterns among healthcare staff during ICU ward rounds.
  • To quantify conversation-initiating interruptions (C.I.I.) and turn-taking interruptions (T.T.I.).

Main Methods:

  • Observational study conducted in a tertiary hospital ICU in Sydney, Australia.
  • Utilized the Communication Observation Method (COM) over 24 hours with nine participants.
  • Recorded time spent in communication, C.I.I., and T.T.I.

Related Experiment Videos

Main Results:

  • Healthcare staff spent an average of 75% of their time in communication during ward rounds.
  • Observed 345 C.I.I. (37% of communication time) and 492 T.T.I. (5.3% of communication time).
  • Turn-taking interruptions occurred with similar frequency to conversation-initiating interruptions.

Conclusions:

  • This is the first study to specifically examine turn-taking interruptions in a clinical setting.
  • ICU staff dedicate a significant majority of their time to communication.
  • The findings suggest that the overall burden of interruptions in ICUs may be underestimated.