Prevalence of Potentially Distracting Noncare Activities and Their Effects on Vigilance, Workload, and Nonroutine Events during Anesthesia Care

Conclusions Both nurse anesthetists and residents performed potentially distracting tasks of a personal and/or educational nature in a majority of cases. Self-initiated distractions were rarely associated with events. This study suggests that anesthesia professionals using sound judgment can self-manage nonclinical activities. Future efforts should focus on eliminating more cognitively absorbing and less escapable distractions, as well as training in distraction management.
Source: Anesthesiology - Category: Anesthesiology Source Type: research