Studies that involved directly observing the process of medication dispensing and administration found that pharmacists, technicians, and nurses are distracted and interrupted as frequently as once every 2 minutes.( 2,3) Westbrook and colleagues observed 98 nurses while they prepared and administered a total of 4271 medications to 720 patients in an Australian hospital. Even less is known about what interventions can be effective in decreasing errors related to interruptions or distractions.( 1) Fewer studies have examined what types of interruptions or distractions cause actual errors in clinical settings.

The evidence suggests that certain tasks and clinical departments are at high risk for interruption- or distraction-related errors. In the past decade, researchers have studied the nature and frequency of clinician interruptions and distractions. Electronic distractions include beepers, text messages, e-mails, or other communication technologies. Noises may include alarms, ringing phones, and other clinicians. Sources for interruptions and distractions include noise, other people, or electronic devices.

Recognition is often a first step to increasing clinicians' awareness of their possible effects, both positive and negative.ĭistractions and interruptions consist of anything that disrupts an individual from the current task by diverting one's attention. It also remains unclear how to best train clinicians to safely manage their work in the face of the constant onslaught of interruptions and distractions. Interruptions-ringing telephones, active alarms or computerized alerts, or even being asked a question-are ubiquitous in society, and health care is no exception.ĭespite recent research related to interruptions and distractions in health care, few evidence-based strategies have been identified that effectively mitigate these patient safety problems.

A distraction may occur when a driver is texting while in traffic or when a health care professional is interrupted during a high-risk task such as prescribing or administering a medication. In everyday life and in health care environments, distractions and interruptions are threats to human performance and safety.

No interruption remix