AIMS: To quantify the number of calls made to specified on-call house officer pagers and to comment on possible implications for practice. METHODS: Seven on-call pagers, covering a range of surgical and medical specialties at Auckland City Hospital, were identified. Data for a 4-month period from April to August 2004 was recorded and analysed in two groups: surgical services and medical services. Statistical software was used to calculate mean times between calls in specified time periods, and to compare differences between surgical and medical services. RESULTS: 25,389 pages were recorded. These data are presented as mean frequency of calls to each pager, divided into four time periods. The highest recorded rate was 6.9 minutes (mean) between calls in general surgery (1600-2200 shift), with the lowest recorded rate a mean of one call per 5 hours (2200-0800 shift) in geriatric and general medicine. CONCLUSIONS: Pager frequency is a potentially useful marker of job acuity and consequent junior doctor stress levels. This study demonstrated a high degree of variability in paging frequency both between services and between time periods. We recommend ongoing monitoring of paging frequencies and more even distribution of after-hours workload.
AIMS: To quantify the number of calls made to specified on-call house officer pagers and to comment on possible implications for practice. METHODS: Seven on-call pagers, covering a range of surgical and medical specialties at Auckland City Hospital, were identified. Data for a 4-month period from April to August 2004 was recorded and analysed in two groups: surgical services and medical services. Statistical software was used to calculate mean times between calls in specified time periods, and to compare differences between surgical and medical services. RESULTS: 25,389 pages were recorded. These data are presented as mean frequency of calls to each pager, divided into four time periods. The highest recorded rate was 6.9 minutes (mean) between calls in general surgery (1600-2200 shift), with the lowest recorded rate a mean of one call per 5 hours (2200-0800 shift) in geriatric and general medicine. CONCLUSIONS: Pager frequency is a potentially useful marker of job acuity and consequent junior doctor stress levels. This study demonstrated a high degree of variability in paging frequency both between services and between time periods. We recommend ongoing monitoring of paging frequencies and more even distribution of after-hours workload.
Authors: Kenneth A Locke; Barbara Duffey-Rosenstein; Giancarlo De Lio; Dante Morra; Nicolas Hariton Journal: J Gen Intern Med Date: 2008-10-29 Impact factor: 5.128
Authors: Shaun P Patel; Jay S Lee; David N Ranney; Shaza N Al-Holou; Christopher M Frost; Meredith E Harris; Sarah A Lewin; Erqi Liu; Arin Madenci; Allen A Majkrzak; Jessica Nelson; Sarah F Peterson; Kerri A Serecky; David A Wilkinson; Brandon M Wojcik; Michael J Englesbe; Raymond J Lynch Journal: World J Surg Date: 2010-11 Impact factor: 3.352
Authors: Robert Wu; Peter Rossos; Sherman Quan; Scott Reeves; Vivian Lo; Brian Wong; Mark Cheung; Dante Morra Journal: J Med Internet Res Date: 2011-08-29 Impact factor: 5.428
Authors: Julie Hallet; David Wallace; Abraham El-Sedfy; Trevor Nt Hall; Najma Ahmed; Jennifer Bridge; Ru Taggar; Andy J Smith; Avery B Nathens; Natalie G Coburn; Lesley Gotlib-Conn Journal: JMIR Res Protoc Date: 2015-03-05