Effects of a Designated Note Writing Hour on Pediatric Intern Adherence to Duty Hours
Objectives Interns spend an inordinate amount of the workday writing notes, leading to less time in direct patient care. Since the introduction of the 80-h workweek, it has been shown that interns spend 12% of the workday in direct patient care, compared to 40% at the computer. A dedicated note-writ...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
SAGE Publishing
2023-10-01
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| Series: | Journal of Medical Education and Curricular Development |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1177/23821205231207486 |
| _version_ | 1797657457799987200 |
|---|---|
| author | William Adamiak William Graessle Natasha Goulet Alla Kushnir |
| author_facet | William Adamiak William Graessle Natasha Goulet Alla Kushnir |
| author_sort | William Adamiak |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Objectives Interns spend an inordinate amount of the workday writing notes, leading to less time in direct patient care. Since the introduction of the 80-h workweek, it has been shown that interns spend 12% of the workday in direct patient care, compared to 40% at the computer. A dedicated note-writing hour was introduced into the pediatric intern shift to evaluate its effects on note writing behaviors. Within 1 year of implementation in July 2019, we aimed to establish that 80% of all pediatric intern notes were completed prior to the end of their shift. Methods Time stamps from EPIC electronic health record (EHR) database were reviewed for all notes written by pediatric interns during three periods of interest: prior to the implementation of the hour (Jan-May 2019), immediately after implementation (July-Nov 2019), and a year after (May-Aug 2020). Results Prior to implementation, 67.9% of notes were completed by sign out. In the period immediately following implementation, and at a year post implementation, percentages increased to 72.5% and 73.5%, respectively. The percentage of notes completed prior to the end of the protected hour improved from 34.0% to 49.5% and 53.7%, respectively. The percentage of notes completed in less than 1 h also increased from 13.9% to 50.6% and 24.9%, respectively. Conclusion These results indicate that a designated note writing hour for interns offer an effective intervention to improve note writing efficiency, however, the goal of 80% note completion by sign out was not met. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T17:44:47Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-5bc68fe1df7649f3a33d2fc2d1f30893 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2382-1205 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T17:44:47Z |
| publishDate | 2023-10-01 |
| publisher | SAGE Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Medical Education and Curricular Development |
| spelling | doaj.art-5bc68fe1df7649f3a33d2fc2d1f308932023-10-18T08:03:39ZengSAGE PublishingJournal of Medical Education and Curricular Development2382-12052023-10-011010.1177/23821205231207486Effects of a Designated Note Writing Hour on Pediatric Intern Adherence to Duty HoursWilliam Adamiak0William Graessle1Natasha Goulet2Alla Kushnir3 , Camden, NJ, USA Department of Pediatrics, , Camden, NJ, USA Department of Pediatrics, , Camden, NJ, USA Department of Pediatrics, , Camden, NJ, USAObjectives Interns spend an inordinate amount of the workday writing notes, leading to less time in direct patient care. Since the introduction of the 80-h workweek, it has been shown that interns spend 12% of the workday in direct patient care, compared to 40% at the computer. A dedicated note-writing hour was introduced into the pediatric intern shift to evaluate its effects on note writing behaviors. Within 1 year of implementation in July 2019, we aimed to establish that 80% of all pediatric intern notes were completed prior to the end of their shift. Methods Time stamps from EPIC electronic health record (EHR) database were reviewed for all notes written by pediatric interns during three periods of interest: prior to the implementation of the hour (Jan-May 2019), immediately after implementation (July-Nov 2019), and a year after (May-Aug 2020). Results Prior to implementation, 67.9% of notes were completed by sign out. In the period immediately following implementation, and at a year post implementation, percentages increased to 72.5% and 73.5%, respectively. The percentage of notes completed prior to the end of the protected hour improved from 34.0% to 49.5% and 53.7%, respectively. The percentage of notes completed in less than 1 h also increased from 13.9% to 50.6% and 24.9%, respectively. Conclusion These results indicate that a designated note writing hour for interns offer an effective intervention to improve note writing efficiency, however, the goal of 80% note completion by sign out was not met.https://doi.org/10.1177/23821205231207486 |
| spellingShingle | William Adamiak William Graessle Natasha Goulet Alla Kushnir Effects of a Designated Note Writing Hour on Pediatric Intern Adherence to Duty Hours Journal of Medical Education and Curricular Development |
| title | Effects of a Designated Note Writing Hour on Pediatric Intern Adherence to Duty Hours |
| title_full | Effects of a Designated Note Writing Hour on Pediatric Intern Adherence to Duty Hours |
| title_fullStr | Effects of a Designated Note Writing Hour on Pediatric Intern Adherence to Duty Hours |
| title_full_unstemmed | Effects of a Designated Note Writing Hour on Pediatric Intern Adherence to Duty Hours |
| title_short | Effects of a Designated Note Writing Hour on Pediatric Intern Adherence to Duty Hours |
| title_sort | effects of a designated note writing hour on pediatric intern adherence to duty hours |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1177/23821205231207486 |
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