The impact of duty cycle workflow on sign-out practices: a qualitative study of an internal medicine residency program in Maryland, USA.

ABSTRACT:

Objectives

Although JCAHO requires a standardised approach to handoffs, and while many standardised protocols have been tested, sign-out practices continue to vary. We believe this is due to the variability in workflow during inpatient duty cycle. We investigate the impact of such workflows on intern sign-out practices.

Design

We employed a prospective, grounded theory mixed-method design.

Setting

The study was conducted at a residency programme in the mid-Atlantic USA. Two observers randomly evaluated three types of daily sign-outs for 1 week every 3 months from September 2013 to March 2014. The compliance of each observed behaviour to JCAHO's Handoff Communication Checklist was recorded.

Participants

Thirty one interns conducting 134 patient sign-outs were ob

SUBMITTER: Lee SH 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5566623 | biostudies-literature | 2017 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature