Resident duty hour modification affects perceptions in medical education, general wellness, and ability to provide patient care

Burnout and fatigue amongst internal medicine residents: A cross-sectional study on the impact of alternative scheduling models on resident wellness

BACKGROUND

Fatigue and burnout are prevalent among resident physicians across Canada. Shifts exceeding 24 hours are commonly purported as detrimental to resident health and performance. Residency training programs have employed strategies towards understanding and intervening upon the complex issue of resident fatigue, where alternative resident scheduling models have been an area of active investigation. This study sought to characterize drivers and outcomes of fatigue and burnout amongst internal medicine residents across different scheduling models.

METHODS

We conducted cross-sectional surveys were among internal medicine resident physicians at the University of Alberta. We collected anonymized socioeconomic demographics and medical education background, and estimated associations between demographic or work characteristics and fatigue and burnout outcomes.

RESULTS

Sixty-nine participants competed burnout questionnaires, and 165 fatigue questionnaires were completed (response rate of 48%). The overall prevalence of burnout was 58%. Lower burnout prevalence was noted among respondents with dependent(s) (p = 0.048), who identified as a racial minority (p = 0.018), or completed their medical degree internationally (p = 0.006). The 1-in-4 model was associated with the highest levels of fatigue, reported increased risk towards personal health (OR 4.98, 95%CI 1.77-13.99) and occupational or household harm (OR 5.69, 95%CI 1.87-17.3). Alternative scheduling models were not associated with these hazards.

CONCLUSIONS

The 1-in-4 scheduling model was associated with high rates of resident physician fatigue, and alternative scheduling models were associated with less fatigue. Protective factors against fatigue are best characterized as strong social supports outside the workplace. Further studies are needed to characterize the impacts of alternative scheduling models on resident education and patient safety.

Governance for Patient Safety: A Framework of Strategy Domains for Risk Management

BACKGROUND

Adverse events in healthcare are primarily due to system failures rather than individuals. Risk reduction strategies should therefore focus on strengthening systems, bringing about improvements in governance, and targeting individual practices or products. The purpose of this study was to conduct a scoping review to develop a global framework of management strategies for sustaining a safety-oriented culture in healthcare organizations, focusing on patient safety and the adoption of good safety-related practices.

METHODS

We conducted a search on safety-related strategies in 2 steps. The first involved a search in the PubMed database to identify effective, broadly framed, cross-sector domains relevant to clinical risk management strategies in healthcare systems. In the second step, we then examined the strategies adopted by running a scoping review for each domain.

RESULTS

Our search identified 8 strategy domains relevant to patient safety: transformational leadership, patient engagement, human resources management quality, innovation technology, skills certification, education in patient safety, teamwork, and effective communication.

CONCLUSIONS

This scoping review explores management strategies key to healthcare systems' efforts to create safety-oriented organizations. Improvement efforts should focus particularly on the domains identified: combined together, they would nurture an overall safety-oriented culture and have an impact on preventable adverse events.

Staff and resident perceptions on the introduction of a team based multi-specialty resident night shift system

Objectives

To determine the perceptions of staff and resident physicians on the impact of implementation of a new team based multi-specialty resident night shift system.

Methods

An electronic survey was distributed anonymously to all resident physicians in the Core Internal Medicine residency program at the University of Alberta. A similar survey was distributed to staff physicians in the 4 specialties impacted by this new system: hematology, respirology, nephrology and gastroenterology.

Results

74 physicians completed the survey. A majority of respondents (67%) indicated the new system was a positive change. Most shared it was better than traditional 1 in 4 call (65%), with resident physicians appreciating the team based nature of the system (65%), and just more than half of residents (55%) indicating this system improved their overall wellness. Most respondents (78%) did not feel the additional handover required had a negative impact. Respondents indicated daytime teaching and feedback improved as a result of this system (52%) with most others indicating it had no impact, although overnight feedback remained a challenge.

Conclusion

The implementation of this new team based system was well accepted by both staff and resident physicians across a number of domains. Future study is required to determine its impact on access and quality of care.

Estratégias para sustentar o interesse em realizar residência médica em Medicina de Família e Comunidade durante tempos de pandemia de COVID-19 no contexto brasileiro

A residência médica é considerada o padrão-ouro na formação de especialistas em Medicina de Família e Comunidade. Há uma alta demanda por profissionais adequadamente qualificados nessa área no contexto brasileiro. No entanto, essa residência ainda se mostra pouco atrativa para boa parte dos egressos de Medicina, fato revelado pelas inúmeras vagas ociosas e altas taxas de desistência a despeito de seriadas tentativas de torná-la mais motivante para o candidato. A pandemia intensificou ainda mais esse desinteresse e há sinais de que ela persistirá em 2021. Assim, torna-se necessário e urgente buscar novas estratégias. Entre as alternativas que podem combater esse desânimo estão a reestruturação de ambientes de ensino virtual e a redistribuição da carga horária dos residentes.

An Ergogenic Medical Education: Building Curricula to Optimize Performance and Decrease Burnout

One of the most pervasive myths in our culture today is the belief that training increases performance. When, in fact, training decreases performance. The current structure of training programs and educational curriculums provide the evidence regarding the acceptance of this belief. Intense focus is placed on the quantity of training time with little regard for additional factors. In pursuit of excellence, maximizing training opportunity and learning exposure insists upon the sacrifice of recovery time. However, recovery is the necessary training period to increase performance. In athletics, training without recovery leads to overtraining syndrome. Burnout is the non-athletic equivalency seen in under-recovered learners and workers. As demonstrated by the climbing burnout rates, the current structure of educational programs, epitomized by medical residency, perpetuates the myth that more training equals better performance. The purpose of the article does not revolve around the presentation of novel research discoveries, but it insists upon the implementation of previously established performance data in curricula development beyond athletics. The inflection and deflection points along the growth and adaptation curves can be explicitly utilized to meet the educational and professional standards set forth by educational institutions. When tracking performance as the metric, initial training stimuli creates a descending slope, e.g., "training decreases performance." The concept that training creates a negative deflection is a neglected concept in academics. By incorporating this feature into learning environments, training can transition from surviving training redundancy to thriving with an optimal work:recovery ratio.

Operating bedside cardiac ultrasound program in emergency medicine residency: A retrospective observation study from the perspective of performance improvement

Background

Point-of-care ultrasound is one of useful diagnostic tools in emergency medicine practice and considerably depends on physician’s performance. This study was performed to evaluate performance improvements and favorable attitudes through structured cardiac ultrasound program for emergency medicine residents.

Methods

Retrospective observational study using the point-of-care ultrasound (PoCUS) database in one tertiary academic-teaching hospital emergency department has been conducted. Cardiac ultrasound education and rotation program has been implemented in emergency medicine residency program. Structured evaluation sheet for cardiac ultrasound and questionnaire toward PoCUS have been developed. An early-phase and a late-phase case were selected randomly for each participant. Two emergency medicine specialists with expertise in PoCUS evaluated saved images independently. We used a paired t-test to compare the performance score of each phase and the results of the questionnaire. Multivariable linear regression analysis was conducted to evaluate the association between the characteristics of participants and performance improvements.

Results

During the study period, a total of 1,652 bedside cardiac ultrasounds were administered. Forty-six examinations conducted by 23 emergency medicine residents were randomly selected for analysis. The performance score increased from 39.5 to 56.1 according to expert A and 45.3 to 62.9 according to expert B (p-value <0.01 for both). The average questionnaire score, which was analyzed for 17 participants, showed improvement from 18.9 to 20.7 (p-value <0.01). In multivariable linear regression analysis, younger age, higher early-phase score and higher confidence had a negative association with a greater improvement of performance, while the number of examinations had a positive association.

Conclusions

Bedside cardiac ultrasound performance and attitudes toward PoCUS have been improved through structured residency program.

Rethinking Strategies and Programs to Improve Physical and Emotional Well-being Among Healthcare Professionals: Facing the New Normalcy

Background

With the advent of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), a different perspective on the future of humanity has emerged that emphasizes the importance of building the capacities of healthcare providers in order to assist them with the heavy burden that these changes have placed on them both now and in the future. A reduction in the quality of life and the presence of prolonged fatigue are some of the most imminent problems that emerge among these professionals.

Objective

The aim of this study was to determine the effectiveness of a holistic intervention (workshop) for health science students aimed at developing skills that will enable them to obtain a better self-assessment of their quality of life, and prolonged fatigue.

Methods

Pre- and post-measures of quality of life, and prolonged fatigue were obtained from 130 health science students, including a group of 96 attendees (cases) of a 4-h wellness workshop and 34 students who did not attend (controls).

Results

Paired t tests indicated a significant improvement in nearly all dimensions related to quality of life, and prolonged fatigue in the case group who attended the workshop.

Conclusions

A comprehensive wellness strategy that utilizes a holistic approach can play an important role in improving and promoting essential skills to improve healthcare provider's self-assessment about the quality of life and reduce their prolonged fatigue. The critical importance of these needs has long been recognized, and this will also be crucial for addressing new challenges and emerging realities.

A Night Float System in Nephrology Fellowship: A Mixed Methods Evaluation

BACKGROUND

Johns Hopkins was an early adopter of an in-house nephrology fellowship night float to improve work-life balance. Our study aimed to elucidate attitudes to guide fellowship structuring.

METHODS

We performed a mixed-methods study surveying Johns Hopkins fellows, alumni, and faculty and conducting one focus group of current fellows. Surveys were developed through literature review, queried on a five-point Likert scale, and analyzed with t and ANOVA tests. The focus group transcript was analyzed by two independent reviewers.

RESULTS

Survey response rates were 14 (100%) fellows, 32 (91%) alumni, and 17 (94%) faculty. All groups felt quality of patient care was good to excellent with no significant differences among groups (range of means [SD], 4.1 [0.7]-4.6 [0.7]; P=0.12), although fellows had a statistically significantly more positive view than faculty on autonomy (4.6 [0.5] versus 4.1 [0.3]; P=0.006). Fellows perceived a positive effect across all domains of night float on the day team experience (range, 4.2 [0.8]-4.6 [0.6]; P<0.001 compared with neutral effect). Focus group themes included patient care, care continuity, professional development, wellness, and structural components. One fellow said, "…my bias is that every program would switch to a night float system if they could." All groups were satisfied with night float with 4.7 [0.5], 4.2 [0.8], and 4.0 [0.9] for fellows, faculty, and alumni, respectively; fellows were most enthusiastic (P=0.03). All three groups preferred night float, and fellows did so unanimously.

CONCLUSIONS

Night float was well liked and enhanced the perceived daytime fellow experience. Alumni and faculty were positive about night float, although less so, possibly due to concerns for adequate preparation to handle overnight calls after graduation. Night float implementation at other nephrology programs should be considered based on program resources; such changes should be assessed by similar methods.

Pediatric residents' perceptions of the impact of the 24-hour on-call system on their well-being and education and patient safety. A national survey

Objectives:

To examine pediatric residents’ perceptions of the 24-hour in-hospital shift and its impact on their well-being and education and patient safety.

Methods:

A cross-sectional survey conducted with residents enrolled in pediatric residency programs across Saudi Arabia in February 2017 at the Saudi Commission For Health Specialties, Riyadh Saudi Arabia. We designed a self-administered questionnaire that was distributed using the Saudi Commission for Health Specialties E-mail groups. A 4-point Likert-type scale was used to rank the residents’ responses; and the relative importance index (RII) approach was used to analyze the relative contribution of each indicator to its main theme.

Results:

A total of 314 residents participated in the survey (response rate, 30%). Of these, 168 (53.6%) were females. When asked about their preferences regarding the 24-hour on-call system, 286 residents (91.1%) preferred not to continue with this system. Residents ranked several indicators that they perceived as a negative impact due to the 24-hour on-call system. The first ranked indicator was missing academic activities and elective rotations post-call (mean 3.10 [standard deviation 1.25], RII 90.94%), and the second was decreased performance and decision-making skills during night duty (mean 3.51 [standard deviation 1.0], RII 88.11%).

Conclusion:

We found that the 24-hour on-call system negatively impacts residents’ well-being and education and patient care. Pediatric residency training programs in Saudi Arabia should consider resident duty hour reform and evaluate new on-call models to improve resident well-being and training, as well as patient care.

Support, technology and mental health: correlates of trainee workplace satisfaction

INTRODUCTION

Low physician workplace satisfaction may negatively impact patient care. Dissatisfaction may begin during residency training, where trainees face lower autonomy and less control over work conditions. The theoretical and empirical literature on trainees is couched mainly in terms of burnout. Theories of satisfaction, a different construct, are derived from studies of independent physicians. Identifying specific correlates of trainee satisfaction may be a clearer path to preparing a sustainable physician workforce.

METHODS

We surveyed 3300 residents and fellows (response rate of 7.2% to 46,574 surveys sent) across multiple specialties and institutions in the US. The instrument was adapted from a previous large-scale survey of physician satisfaction, with changes reflecting factors theorized to specifically affect trainee satisfaction. We applied generalized linear regression to identify correlates of higher satisfaction.

RESULTS

A total of 1444 (44%) residents/fellows reported they were very satisfied and 1311 (40%) reported being somewhat satisfied. Factors associated with satisfaction included positive perceptions of supporting clinical staff, the electronic health record, and stability of personal mental health. Surprisingly, a strong negative perception of completing insurance and/or disability forms was also associated with higher satisfaction. Factors often presumed to correlate with satisfaction, such as duty hours, debt load, and specialty, did not show significant associations.

DISCUSSION

Multiple workplace factors are correlated with trainee satisfaction, but they are not the factors (such as financial debt) that we initially hypothesized. The factors we identified, including clinical staff support and personal mental health, may be targets for further study and/or pilot interventions aimed at improving satisfaction.

Perceptions of a night float system for intern doctors in an internal medicine program: an Asian perspective

Long duty hours have been associated with significant medical errors, adverse events, and physician "burn-out". An innovative night float (NF) system has been implemented in our internal medicine program to reduce the negative effects of long duty hours associated with conventional full-call systems. However, concerns remain if this would result in inadequate training for interns. We developed a structured questionnaire to assess junior doctors' perceptions of the NF system compared to full calls, in areas of patient safety, medical training, and well-being. Ninety-seven (71%) of the 137 doctors polled responded. Ninety-one (94%) felt the NF system was superior to the full call system. A strong majority felt NF was beneficial for patient safety compared to full call (94% vs. 2%, p&lt;0.001). The NF system was also perceived to reduce medical errors (94% vs. 2%, p&lt;0.001) and reduce physician "burn-out" (95% vs. 5%, p&lt;0.001). Beyond being a practical solution to duty-hour limitations, there was a significant perceived benefit of the NF system compared to the full call in terms of overall satisfaction, patient safety, reducing medical errors and physician "burn-out".

Resident duty hours: Families' knowledge and perceptions in the paediatric intensive care unit

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

Resident duty hours remain a controversial topic in the literature. Competing interests include patient safety, resident education, and resident well-being. No studies, however, have sought family members' perspectives on duty hours in the paediatric context. This study aimed to explore family members' knowledge of trainee duty hours, and their perspectives on the balance between shift duration and hand-off frequency.

METHODS

We surveyed family members of patients admitted ≥ 24 hours in the paediatric intensive care unit at an academic center. We simultaneously collected daily logs of hours worked by trainees. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze survey responses and trainee duty hours.

RESULTS

One-hundred and one family members responded (75%). Respondents demonstrated knowledge of trainees working long duty hours but reported lower averages than the trainee logs (55 versus 66 hours per week and 16 versus 24 hours per shift). Elements related to both potential trainee fatigue and hand-offs raised concern in more than half of respondents. When asked to choose between a familiar trainee working a prolonged shift, or an unfamiliar trainee at the start of their shift, respondents were divided (52% versus 48%, respectively).

CONCLUSIONS

Family members of critically ill paediatric patients are aware that trainees provide patient care while working long duty hours with minimal sleep. Despite this awareness, long shifts retain value with some families, possibly due to continuity. Changes to duty hours and hand-off frequency may pose an unrealized harm on family-centered care, as well as patient-provider relationships, and further study is warranted.

Resident Physicians are at Increased Risk for Dangerous Driving after Extended-duration Work Shifts: A Systematic Review

BACKGROUND

Resident physicians often work longer than 24 consecutive hours with little or no sleep. A systematic review of the literature was conducted to investigate the risk of resident physician motor vehicle collisions (MVC), and dangerous driving, after extended-duration work shifts (EDWS).

MATERIAL AND METHODS

A keyword search was performed for original research articles evaluating any aspect of driving safety following EDWS for the resident physician population. Two authors independently reviewed articles for inclusion. Subsequent independent data abstraction and quality appraisal were carried out. Five articles met the study inclusion criteria.

RESULTS

The quality of the evidence was low to very low. Results were not pooled due to study heterogeneity. Residents reported between 2.3 to 3.8 hours of sleep during EDWS. Three survey-based studies identified an increased risk of MVCs and falling asleep at the wheel after EDWS. One study associated weekly cumulative sleep hours lost with the risk of falling asleep while driving. Both driving simulation and survey studies linked EDWS with MVCs. Notably, a driving simulation study found an increase in crash frequency in male residents post-EDWS. Additionally, a survey reported that the risk of an MVC post-EDWS increased by 16.2% per shift worked in a month.

CONCLUSION

The period following EDWS is associated with an increased risk of potentially life-threatening driving safety risks for resident physicians. These observations warrant careful consideration. They suggest that there is a need for greater awareness and action in order to avoid the occupational and public health risks of driving after EDWS.

Psychiatric Emergency Services - Can Duty-Hour Changes Help Residents and Patients?

Limitations on resident duty hours have been widely introduced with the intention of decreasing resident fatigue and improving patient outcomes. While there is evidence of improvement in resident well-being and education following such initiatives, they have inadvertently resulted in increased number of hand-offs between clinicians leading to potential errors in patient care. Current literature emphasizes need for more specialty/setting-specific scheduling, while considering residents' opinions when implementing duty-hour reforms. There are no reports examining the impact of duty-hour changes on residents or patients in psychiatric emergency service (PES) settings. Our purpose was to assess the impact of a recent scheduling change and decrease in overall duty hours, on resident well-being and sense of burnout, while also evaluating changes to patient wait-time and length of stay (LOS) in PES. Residents completed Maslach Burnout Inventory and anonymous surveys focusing on: fatigue, sleep, life outside work for shifts - regular (8 am-8 pm) and swing shifts (12 pm-10 pm). Data from the electronic medical records were collected for 6 months pre- and post-schedule change (January 2016-February 2017), for LOS and patient wait-time. Residents' preference for shifts was split. However, 86% reported getting enough sleep during swing shifts, while 83% reported lack of sleep during regular shifts. The average patient wait-time and LOS significantly decreased from 169 to 147 and 690 to 515 min, respectively. The change to swing shifts significantly impacts LOS and patient wait-time. The short shifts demonstrated an improvement in well-being for residents, but were not the singular factor for overall resident satisfaction.

Perceived utility and relevance of intern well-being sessions

BACKGROUND/AIM

We conducted a pilot project assessing the perceived utility and relevance of well-being sessions provided to interns at a large regional teaching hospital in Australia, with the aim of promoting intern well-being and fostering a nurturing and supportive learning and work hospital culture.

METHODS

Our intervention involved two separate 60-min lectures covering well-being topics and skills to approximately 50 interns within protected teaching time, along with emailed well-being resources. Participants were emailed an online survey asking questions about value and novelty of the sessions, and work satisfaction and stress, as well as open comments. A request for an additional interview to explore responses in more depth was included.

RESULTS

Fifty interns attended at least one of the sessions and 35 participated in the survey, six to an additional interview. Survey and interview data showed that the majority of interns perceived the sessions as valuable, relevant and useful and felt that ongoing sessions would benefit junior medical officers in future years. Feedback highlighted the importance of providing future sessions in person, incorporating an interactive approach and emphasised that work site factors and medical culture play a large causative role in their stress.

CONCLUSIONS

We conclude that well-being sessions are acceptable and useful to interns and should be incorporated into hospital teaching curricula, and evaluated. However, these programmes are unlikely to change the high stress experienced unless external and systemic stressors are addressed by all stakeholders.

Impact of night shifts on emergency medicine resident resuscitation performance

AIM

Emergency medicine (EM) trainees often work nightshifts. We sought to measure how this circadian disruption affects EM resident performance during simulated resuscitations.

METHODS

This retrospective cohort study enrolled EM residents at a single Canadian academic centre over a six-year period. Residents completed twice-annual simulation-based resuscitation-focused objective structured clinical examinations (OSCEs) with assessment in four domains (primary assessment, diagnostic actions, therapeutic actions and communication), and a global assessment score (GAS). Primary and secondary exposures of interest were the presence of a nightshift (late-evening shifts ending between midnight and 03h00 or overnight shifts ending after 06h00) the day before or within three days before an OSCE. A random effects linear regression model was used to quantify the association between nightshifts and OSCE scores.

RESULTS

From 57 residents, 136 OSCE scores were collected. Working a nightshift the day before an OSCE did not affect male trainee scores but was associated with a significant absolute decrease in mean total scores (-6% [95% CI -12% to 0%]), GAS (-7% [-13% to 0%]), and communication (-9% [-16% to -2%]) scores among women. Working any nightshift within three days before an OSCE lowered absolute mean total scores by 4% [-7% to 0%] and communication scores by 5% [-5% to 0%] irrespective of gender.

CONCLUSION

Our results suggest that shift work may impact EM resident resuscitation performance, particularly in the communication domain. This impact may be more significant in women than men, suggesting a need for further investigation.

Nighthawk: Making Night Float Education and Patient Safety Soar

BACKGROUND

Some residency programs responded to duty hour restrictions by implementing night rotations. Night supervision models can vary, resulting in potential patient safety issues and educational voids for residents.

OBJECTIVE

We evaluated the impact of multiple evidence-based interventions on resident satisfaction with supervision, perception of the education value of night rotations, and residents' use of online educational materials.

METHODS

The night team was augmented with an intern to assist with admissions and a senior resident (the "nighthawk") to supervise inpatient care and deliver a night medicine curriculum. We instituted a "must-call" list, with specific clinical events requiring mandatory attending notification, and reduced conflict in the role of the night float team. We studied patient contact, online curriculum use, residents' perceptions of nighthawk involvement, exposure to educational materials, and satisfaction with supervision.

RESULTS

During the first half of academic year 2016-2017, 51% (64 of 126) of trainees were on the night medicine rotation. The nighthawk reviewed 1007 intern plans (15 per night; range, 6-36) and supervised 215 hands-on evaluations, including codes and rapid responses (3 per night; range, 0-12). The number of users of the online education materials increased by 85% (13 to 24), and instances of use increased 35% (85 to 115). The majority of residents (79%, 27 of 34) favored the new system.

CONCLUSIONS

A nighthawk rotation, a must-call list, and reducing conflict in night team members' roles improved resident satisfaction with supervision and the night medicine rotation, resulting in increased communication.