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BACKGROUND Little is known in the literature about the types of questions being asked of on-call housestaff and the resources used to provide answers. OBJECTIVE To characterize questions being asked of pediatric interns on call and evaluate their use of written handoffs, verbal handoffs, and other resources. DESIGN/METHODS Prospective direct observational study. SETTING Inpatient wards at an academic tertiary care children's hospital. PARTICIPANTS Pediatric interns. RESULTS Trainees were asked 2.6 questions/hour (interquartile range: 1.4–4.7); most involved medications (28%), general care plans (27%), diagnostic tests/procedures (22%), diet/fluids (15%), and physical exams (9%). Interns reported using information provided in written or verbal handoffs to answer 32.6% questions (written 7.3%; verbal 25.3%). Other resources utilized included general medical knowledge, the medical record, and parental report. Questions pertaining to diet/fluids were associated with increased written handoff use (odds ratio [OR]: 3.64, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.51–8.76), whereas having worked more consecutive nights was associated with decreased written handoff use (OR: 0.29, 95% CI: 0.09–0.93). Questions regarding general care plans (OR: 2.07, 95% CI: 1.13–3.78), those asked by clinical staff (OR: 1.95, 95% CI: 1.04–3.66), and questions asked of patients with longer lengths of stay (OR: 1.97, 95% CI: 1.02–3.80) were predictive of verbal handoff use. CONCLUSIONS Pediatric housestaff face frequent questions during overnight shifts and frequently use information received during handoffs to provide answers. A better understanding of how handoffs and other resources are utilized by housestaff could inform future targeted initiatives to improve trainees' access to key information at night. Journal of Hospital Medicine 2013;8:328–333. © 2013 Society of Hospital Medicine

Sleep deprivation is common among resident physicians and clinical fellows. Current evidence about sleep science, performance, shift work, and medical errors consistently demonstrates positive impact from reduction of excessive duty hours, particularly when shift length is shortened. This article provides an overview of this literature, highlighting research on diminished physician cognitive performance due to sleep deprivation and the increase in the number of medical errors that is seen under these conditions. Accreditation Council on Graduate Medical Education trainee duty hour guidelines are reviewed. Practical approaches to evidence-based scheduling of shift-work are also discussed, with attention to improving patient safety.

Hypothesis A novel approach to identify at-risk periods among orthopedic surgical residents may direct fatigue risk mitigation and facilitate targeted interventions. Design A prospective cohort study with a minimum 2-week continuous assessment period. Data on sleep and awake periods were processed using the sleep, activity, fatigue, and task effectiveness model. Setting Rotations at 2 academic tertiary care centers. Participants Twenty-seven of 33 volunteer orthopedic surgical residents (82%) completed the study, representing 65% (33 of 51) of the orthopedic residency program. Intervention Residents' sleep and awake periods were continuously recorded via actigraphy, and a daily questionnaire was used to analyze mental fatigue. Main Outcome Measures Percentage of time at less than 80% mental effectiveness (correlating with an increased risk of error), percentage of time at less than 70% mental effectiveness (correlating with a blood alcohol level of 0.08%), the mean amount of daily sleep, and the relative risk of medical error compared with chance. Results Residents were fatigued during 48% and impaired during 27% of their time awake. Among all residents, the mean amount of daily sleep was 5.3 hours. Overall, residents' fatigue levels were predicted to increase the risk of medical error by 22% compared with well-rested historical control subjects. Night-float residents were more impaired (P = .02), with an increased risk of medical error (P = .045). Conclusions Resident fatigue is prevalent, pervasive, and variable. To guide targeted interventions, fatigue modeling can be conducted in hospitals to identify periods, rotations, and individuals at risk of medical error.

OBJECTIVE: In 2011, the Accreditation Council on Graduate Medical Education increased restrictions on resident duty-hours. Additional changes have been considered, including greater work-hours restrictions and lengthening residency. Program directors tend to oppose further restrictions; however, residents’ views are unclear. We sought to determine whether residents support these proposals, and if so why. METHODS: We surveyed US pediatric residents from a probability sample of 58 residency programs. We used multivariate logistic regression to determine predictors of support for (1) a 56-hour workweek and (2) the addition of 1 year to residency to achieve a 56-hour week. RESULTS: Fifty-seven percent of sampled residents participated (n = 1469). Forty-one percent of respondents supported a 56-hour week, with 28% neutral and 31% opposed. Twenty-three percent of all residents would be willing to lengthen training to reduce hours. The primary predictors of support for a 56-hour week were beliefs that it would improve education (odds ratio [OR] 8.6, P < .001) and quality of life (OR 8.7, P < .001); those who believed patient care would suffer were less likely to support it (OR 0.10, P < .001). Believing in benefits to education without decrement to patient care also predicted support for a 56-hour-week/4-year program. CONCLUSIONS: Pediatric residents who support further reductions in work-hours believe reductions have positive effects on patient care, education, and quality of life. Most would not lengthen training to reduce hours, but a minority prefers this schedule. If evidence mounts showing that reducing work-hours benefits education and patient care, pediatric residents’ support for the additional year may grow.

The first cohort of IIPE projects from 2009 are beginning to realize some early successes. We bring you this article in the spirit of sharing what works and what doesn't. The lesson about the importance of context is critical in adopting and adapting innovations to your own learning environment. —Carol Carraccio, MD, MA Section Editor New duty hours standards have increased the frequency of transitions in care or handoffs for resident physicians. Because miscommunications are a leading cause of adverse events in hospitals, optimizing the handoff process is essential for patient safety. The I-PASS Study aims to determine the effectiveness of implementing a “resident handoff bundle” to standardize inpatient transitions in care and decrease medical errors in 10 pediatric institutions.1 The resident handoff bundle includes 3 major elements: team training by using focused TeamSTEPPS communication strategies,2 implementation of a standardized template for the written or printed computerized handoff document, and introduction of several evidence-based verbal handoff processes, which are referred to by using a novel verbal mnemonic. This multisite collaborative education and research project was launched with the support of the Initiative for Innovation in Pediatric Education (IIPE) and the Pediatric Research in Inpatient Settings (PRIS) network. The title I-PASS is an acronym that not only denotes the title and purpose of our research study—IIPE-PRIS Accelerating Safe Sign-outs—but also serves as the verbal mnemonic for the standardized handoff itself. Individual elements of the I-PASS mnemonic will be defined in this article. Mnemonics are memory aids. Effective mnemonics are catchy, symbolic, parsimonious, utilitarian, and may conjure up a visual image linked to a process or subject. In this report, we emphasize the importance of structured communication strategies to enhance patient safety, review literature pertinent to the handoff process, including the use of verbal mnemonics, and describe the creation of … Address correspondence to Amy J. Starmer, MD, MPH, Department of Pediatrics, Doernbecher Children's Hospital, Oregon Health and Science University, Mail code: CDRCP, 707 SW Gaines St, Portland, OR 97239-2998. E-mail: starmer{at}ohsu.edu

Mais de uma decada desde que alguns estudos comecaram a demonstrar que os erros medicos sao uma das principais causas de morte e injurias em todo o mundo1, a epidemia da seguranca dos pacientes continua descontrolada2,3. Em um estudo envolvendo 58 hospitais de cinco paises latinoamericanos, demonstrou-se que 10% de todos os pacientes hospitalizados haviam sofrido algum dano decorrente do atendimento medico durante a hospitalizacao; 59% desses danos foram determinados por uma equipe internacional de investigadores como sendo passiveis de prevencao e 20% foram considerados danos graves, que causaram incapacidade, necessidade de intervencao cirurgica ou obito4. Esses numeros sao similares a taxas recentes de eventos adversos (EAs) relatados nos Estados Unidos, na Australia, no Reino Unido e em outras partes do mundo. Com o surgimento desses estudos epidemiologicos, a conscientizacao sobre a seguranca dos pacientes aumentou tremendamente nos ultimos anos, e numerosos esforcos tem sido realizados em um unico centro ou em multiplos centros para melhorar a seguranca. Muitos desses esforcos coincidiram com iniciativas bem-sucedidas em hospitais comprometidos5,6. Contudo, tais esforcos nao se traduziram na melhora global da seguranca do atendimento em um escala mais ampla2,3. A disseminacao de melhores praticas continua baixa, e, em muitos hospitais em todo o mundo, a fragilidade fundamental da organizacao da saude permanece.

Recent data indicate that as many as 180,000 patients die each year due to harm suffered as a result of medical care. Between 40 and 60% of these deaths-and the millions of injuries due to medical care-are preventable. In the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), neonates' size and fragility makes them especially susceptible to serious medical errors, which occur at a far higher rate in this population than elsewhere in hospitals. A growing body of literature demonstrates that the work schedules and sleep deprivation of physicians are important contributors to this epidemic of error. Nowhere is there a higher risk of adverse outcomes due to provider sleep deprivation than in the NICU, where even minor lapses of attention or miscalculations can lead to dire patient outcomes. This review will discuss what is known about how provider sleep deprivation may impact perinatal and neonatal medicine and will discuss ongoing research questions that must be addressed to guide future improvement efforts.

Objective To determine whether reorganizing physicians into unit-based teams in general pediatric wards is associated with greater ability to identify other care team members, increased face-to-face communication between physicians and nurses, greater perception that their patient care concerns were met, and decreased number of pages to residents. Design Prospective intervention study with data collected before and at 2 time points after implementation of unit-based teams. Setting General pediatric wards at an urban, tertiary care, freestanding children's hospital from April 1, 2008, through June 30, 2009. Participants Pediatric residents rotating in the medical wards (n = 60) and ward-based pediatric nurses (n = 154). Intervention We reorganized resident-physician care teams to be based on specific inpatient units, with residents admitting and caring only for patients on their assigned unit. Main Outcome Measures Anonymous physician and nurse self-reports of communication practices and number of pages residents received. Results In the unit-based team system, physicians were more likely to be able to identify the nurse for their patients with the most complex conditions (62.3% vs 82.8% vs 82.5%, P = .05), to report contacting (27.3% vs 64.9% vs 56.9%, P = .01) and being contacted by (7.7% vs 48.2% vs 55.2%, P = .002) that nurse in person, and to believe their patient care concerns were met (44.2% vs 82.1% vs 81.8%, P = .009). Nurses reported parallel improvements in communication patterns. The mean number of pages per day to residents decreased by 42.1% (19 vs 10 vs 11, P Conclusion Unit-based teams improve the frequency and quality of multidisciplinary communication, which may create an improved climate for patient safety.

To assess the performance characteristics of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement Global Trigger Tool (GTT) to determine its reliability for tracking local and national adverse event rates.Primary data from 2008 chart reviews.A retrospective study in a stratified random sample of 10 North Carolina hospitals. Hospital-based (internal) and contract research organization-hired (external) reviewers used the GTT to identify adverse events in the same 10 randomly selected medical records per hospital in each quarter from January 2002 through December 2007.Interrater and intrarater reliability was assessed using κ statistics on 10 percent and 5 percent, respectively, of selected medical records. Additionally, experienced GTT users reviewed 10 percent of records to calculate internal and external teams' sensitivity and specificity.Eighty-eight to 98 percent of the targeted 2,400 medical records were reviewed. The reliability of the GTT to detect the presence, number, and severity of adverse events varied from κ=0.40 to 0.60. When compared with a team of experienced reviewers, the internal teams' sensitivity (49 percent) and specificity (94 percent) exceeded the external teams' (34 and 93 percent), as did their performance on all other metrics.The high specificity, moderate sensitivity, and favorable interrater and intrarater reliability of the GTT make it appropriate for tracking local and national adverse event rates. The strong performance of hospital-based reviewers supports their use in future studies.

Background In both Europe and the US, resident physician work hour reduction has been a source of controversy within academic medicine. In 2008, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) recommended a reduction in resident physician work hours. We sought to assess the American public perspective on this issue. Methods We conducted a national survey of 1,200 representative members of the public via random digit telephone dialing in order to describe US public opinion on resident physician work hour regulation, particularly with reference to the IOM recommendations. Results Respondents estimated that resident physicians currently work 12.9-h shifts (95% CI 12.5 to 13.3 h) and 58.3-h work weeks (95% CI 57.3 to 59.3 h). They believed the maximum shift duration should be 10.9 h (95% CI 10.6 to 11.3 h) and the maximum work week should be 50 h (95% CI 49.4 to 50.8 h), with 1% approving of shifts lasting >24 h (95% CI 0.6% to 2%). A total of 81% (95% CI 79% to 84%) believed reducing resident physician work hours would be very or somewhat effective in reducing medical errors, and 68% (95% CI 65% to 71%) favored the IOM proposal that resident physicians not work more than 16 h over an alternative IOM proposal permitting 30-h shifts with ≥5 h protected sleep time. In all, 81% believed patients should be informed if a treating resident physician had been working for >24 h and 80% (95% CI 78% to 83%) would then want a different doctor. Conclusions The American public overwhelmingly favors discontinuation of the 30-h shifts without protected sleep routinely worked by US resident physicians and strongly supports implementation of restrictions on resident physician work hours that are as strict, or stricter, than those proposed by the IOM. Strong support exists to restrict resident physicians' work to 16 or fewer consecutive hours, similar to current limits in New Zealand, the UK and the rest of Europe.

IN 2003, PASSAGE OF THE ACCREDITATION COUNCIL FOR Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) work hour standards marked the first time that work hours for physicians in training were regulated throughout the United States. Five years later, the medical profession stands at a critical juncture. At the request of Congress, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality has sponsored an Institute of Medicine committee to review the evidence on the relationship between residents’ work hours and patient safety and to develop recommendations for improvement. There is increasing evidence that resident sleep deprivation endangers patients and residents, but studies have not shown consistent benefit from implementation of the current ACGME standards. No changes in mortality were found in national studies of surgical patients. Some reductions in mortality were observed for medical patients at Veterans Administration hospitals and in a cohort of non–Veterans Administration hospitals, although not in a larger population of medical patients covered by Medicare. The lack of consistent improvements may be due to several factors. First, there are flaws in the design of the intervention. The ACGME standards continue to allow trainees to work 30 consecutive hours, a duration repeatedly demonstrated to be hazardous both in laboratory studies and in studies of trainees workinginhospitalsettings.Second,compliancewiththestandardsmaybesuboptimal. Third,benefits fromreducedfatigue mightbeoffsetbyworsenedcontinuityofpatientcare,particularly in hospitals in which robust systems for ensuring highquality transitions in care have not been implemented. In this article, we propose priorities that should guide the medical community in developing specific alternatives for physician work hour regulation, if the objectives are to maximize patient and physician safety while preserving the best possible training for physicians.

BACKGROUND: Undesirable practice variation remains a major concern with the quality of the healthcare system. While care in pediatric hospitalist systems has been demonstrated to be efficient, neither the quality of care nor determinants of variation in pediatric hospitalist systems are well understood. OBJECTIVE: To measure variation in pediatric hospitalists' reported use of common inpatient therapies, and to test the hypothesis that variation in reported use of proven therapies is lower than variation in reported use of unproven therapies. DESIGN AND MEASUREMENTS: We conducted a survey of pediatric hospitalists in the US and Canada. Respondents reported their frequency of using 14 therapies in the management of common conditions. Each therapy was determined to be of proven or unproven effectiveness using published critical appraisals. Variation in reported use of proven and unproven therapies was compared. RESULTS: 67% (213/320) of surveyed individuals participated. Little variability existed in reported use of albuterol and corticosteroids in asthma (4-6% of respondents reported not often using them) and systemic dexamethasone in bronchiolitis (12% of respondents reported using it more than rarely). Moderate to high variation existed in reported use of all other therapies studied. Variation in reported use of proven therapies was significantly less than variation in reported use of unproven therapies (15.5 ± 12.5% vs. 44.6 ± 20.5%). CONCLUSIONS: Substantial variation exists in hospitalists' reported management of common pediatric conditions. Variation is significantly lower for strongly evidence-based therapies. To decrease undesirable variation in care, a stronger evidence base for inpatient pediatric care must be built. Journal of Hospital Medicine 2008;3:292–298. © 2008 Society of Hospital Medicine.

OBJECTIVE. Although initial research suggests that computerized physician order entry reduces pediatric medication errors, no comprehensive error surveillance studies have evaluated the effect of computerized physician order entry on children. Our objective was to evaluate comprehensively the effect of computerized physician order entry on the rate of inpatient pediatric medication errors. METHODS. Using interrupted time-series regression analysis, we reviewed all charts, orders, and incident reports for 40 admissions per month to the NICU, PICU, and inpatient pediatric wards for 7 months before and 9 months after implementation of commercial computerized physician order entry in a general hospital. Nurse data extractors, who were unaware of study objectives, used an established error surveillance method to detect possible errors. Two physicians who were unaware of when the possible error occurred rated each possible error. RESULTS. In 627 pediatric admissions, with 12 672 medication orders written over 3234 patient-days, 156 medication errors were detected, including 70 nonintercepted serious medication errors (22/1000 patient-days). Twenty-three errors resulted in patient injury (7/1000 patient-days). In time-series analysis, there was a 7% decrease in level of the rates of nonintercepted serious medication errors. There was no change in the rate of injuries as a result of error after computerized physician order entry implementation. CONCLUSIONS. The rate of nonintercepted serious medication errors in this pediatric population was reduced by 7% after the introduction of a commercial computerized physician order entry system, much less than previously reported for adults, and there was no change in the rate of injuries as a result of error. Several human-machine interface problems, particularly surrounding selection and dosing of pediatric medications, were identified. Additional refinements could lead to greater effects on error rates.

Objective To determine the prevalence of depression and burnout among residents in paediatrics and to establish if a relation exists between these disorders and medication errors. Design Prospective cohort study. Setting Three urban freestanding children’s hospitals in the United States. Participants 123 residents in three paediatric residency programmes. Main outcome measures Prevalence of depression using the Harvard national depression screening day scale, burnout using the Maslach burnout inventory, and rate of medication errors per resident month. Results 24 (20%) of the participating residents met the criteria for depression and 92 (74%) met the criteria for burnout. Active surveillance yielded 45 errors made by participants. Depressed residents made 6.2 times as many medication errors per resident month as residents who were not depressed: 1.55 (95% confidence interval 0.57 to 4.22) compared with 0.25 (0.14 to 0.46, P

Background: Sleep deprivation, ubiquitous among nurses and physicians, recently has been shown to greatly increase rates of serious medical errors and occupational injuries among health care workers in the United States. Current Initiatives and Policies: The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education's current work-hour limits for physicians-in-training allow work hours well in excess of those proven safe. No regulations limit the work hours of other groups of health care providers in the United States. Consequently, nursing work shifts exceeding 12 hours remain common. Physician-in-training shifts of 30 consecutive hours continue to be endorsed officially, and data demonstrate that even the 30-hour limit is exceeded routinely. By contrast, European health care workers are limited by law to 13 consecutive hours of work and to 48-56 hours of work per week. Except for a few institutions that have eliminated 24-hour shifts, as a whole, the United States lags far behind other industrialized nations in ensuring safe work hours. Conclusions: Preventing health care provider sleep deprivation could be an extremely powerful means of addressing the epidemic of medical errors in the United States. Implementation of evidence-based work-hour limits, scientifically designed work schedules, and infrastructural changes, such as the development of standardized handoff systems, are urgently needed.

OBJECTIVE. The objective of this study was to determine the frequency and types of pediatric medication errors attributable to design features of a computerized order entry system. METHODS. A total of 352 randomly selected, inpatient, pediatric admissions were reviewed retrospectively for identification of medication errors, 3 to 12 months after implementation of computerized order entry. Errors were identified and classified by using an established, comprehensive, active surveillance method. Errors attributable to the computer system were classified according to type. RESULTS. Among 6916 medication orders in 1930 patient-days, there were 104 pediatric medication errors, of which 71 were serious (37 serious medication errors per 1000 patient-days). Of all pediatric medication errors detected, 19% (7 serious and 13 with little potential for harm) were computer related. The rate of computer-related pediatric errors was 10 errors per 1000 patient-days, and the rate of serious computer-related pediatric errors was 3.6 errors per 1000 patient-days. The following 4 types of computer-related errors were identified: duplicate medication orders (same medication ordered twice in different concentrations of syrup, to work around computer constraints; 2 errors), drop-down menu selection errors (wrong selection from a drop-down box; 9 errors), keypad entry error (5 typed instead of 50; 1 error), and order set errors (orders selected from a pediatric order set that were not appropriate for the patient; 8 errors). In addition, 4 preventable adverse drug events in drug ordering occurred that were not considered computer-related but were not prevented by the computerized physician order entry system. CONCLUSIONS. Serious pediatric computer-related errors are uncommon (3.6 errors per 1000 patient-days), but computer systems can introduce some new pediatric medication errors that are not typically seen in a paper ordering system.

OBJECTIVE. The goal was to test the hypothesis that pediatric hospitalists use evidence-based therapies and tests more consistently in the care of inpatients and use therapies and tests of unproven benefit less often, compared with community pediatricians.METHODS. A national survey was administered to hospitalists and a random sample of community pediatricians. Hospitalists and community pediatricians reported their frequency of use of diagnostic tests and therapies, on 5-point Likert scales (ranging from never to almost always), for common inpatient pediatric illnesses. Responses were compared in univariate and multivariable logistic regression analyses controlling for gender, race, years out of residency, days spent attending per year, hospital practice type, and completion of fellowship/postgraduate training.RESULTS. Two hundred thirteen pediatric hospitalists and 352 community pediatricians responded. In multivariable regression analyses, hospitalists were significantly more likely to report often or almost always using the following evidence-based therapies for asthma: albuterol and ipratropium in the first 24 hours of hospitalization. After the first urinary tract infection, hospitalists were more likely to report obtaining the recommended renal ultrasound and voiding cystourethrogram. Hospitalists were significantly more likely than community pediatricians to report rarely or never using the following therapies of unproven benefit: levalbuterol, inhaled steroid therapy, and oral steroid therapy for bronchiolitis; stool culture and rotavirus testing for gastroenteritis; and ipratropium after 24 hours of hospitalization for asthma.CONCLUSION. Overall, in comparison with community pediatricians, hospitalists reported greater adherence to evidence-based therapies and tests in the care of hospitalized patients and less use of therapies and tests of unproven benefit.

Objective: Critically ill patients require high-intensity care and may be at especially high risk of iatrogenic injury because they are severely ill. We sought to study the incidence and nature of adverse events and serious errors in the critical care setting. Design: We conducted a prospective 1-year observational study. Incidents were collected with use of a multifaceted approach including direct continuous observation. Two physicians independently assessed incident type, severity, and preventability as well as systems-related and individual performance failures. Setting: Academic, tertiary-care urban hospital. Patients Medical intensive care unit and coronary care unit patients. Interventions: None. Measurements and Main Results: The primary outcomes of interest were the incidence and rates of adverse events and serious errors per 1000 patient-days. A total of 391 patients with 420 unit admissions were studied during 1490 patient-days. We found 120 adverse events in 79 patients (20.2%), including 66 (55%) nonpreventable and 54 (45%) preventable adverse events as well as 223 serious errors. The rates per 1000 patient-days for all adverse events, preventable adverse events, and serious errors were 80.5, 36.2, and 149.7, respectively. Among adverse events, 13% (16/120) were life-threatening or fatal; and among serious errors, 11% (24/223) were potentially life-threatening. Most serious medical errors occurred during the ordering or execution of treatments, especially medications (61%; 170/277). Performance level failures were most commonly slips and lapses (53%; 148/ 277), rather than rule-based or knowledge-based mistakes. Conclusions: Adverse events and serious errors involving critically ill patients were common and often potentially life-threatening. Although many types of errors were identified, failure to carry out intended treatment correctly was the leading category. Copyright © 2005 by the Society of Critical Care Medicine and Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.

This article explores the current state of knowledge about the safety of hospitalized patients in general and patients in pediatric settings in particular. It discusses approaches to evaluating patient safety and reviews the current literature on adverse events and errors in hospitals. The article also discusses strategies proven effective in reducing medical errors and some of the barriers to implementing these strategies that must be overcome.

background Knowledge of the physiological effects of extended (24 hours or more) work shifts in postgraduate medical training is limited. We aimed to quantify work hours, sleep, and attentional failures among first-year residents (postgraduate year 1) during a traditional rotation schedule that included extended work shifts and during an intervention schedule that limited scheduled work hours to 16 or fewer consecutive hours. methods Twenty interns were studied during two three-week rotations in intensive care units, each during both the traditional and the intervention schedule. Subjects completed daily sleep logs that were validated with regular weekly episodes (72 to 96 hours) of continuous polysomnography (r=0.94) and work logs that were validated by means of direct observation by study staff (r=0.98). results Seventeen of 20 interns worked more than 80 hours per week during the traditional schedule (mean, 84.9; range, 74.2 to 92.1). All interns worked less than 80 hours per week during the intervention schedule (mean, 65.4; range, 57.6 to 76.3). On average, interns worked 19.5 hours per week less (P

To characterize complications among infants hospitalized for bronchiolitis or respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).Retrospective data from 684 infants with bronchiolitis or RSV pneumonia,or =1 year old, admitted to 10 children's hospitals from April 1995 to September 1996. Outcomes included complication rates and effects on hospital and pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) length of stay (LOS) and hospital costs.Most infants (79%) had one or more complication, with serious complications in 24%. Even minor complications were associated with significantly longer PICU and hospital LOS and higher costs (P.001). Respiratory complications were most frequent (60%), but infectious (41%), cardiovascular (9%), electrolyte imbalance (19%), and other complications (9%) were common. Complication rates were higher in former premature infants (87%), infants with congenital heart disease (93%), and infants with other congenital abnormalities (90%) relative to infants without risk factors (76%). Infants 33 to 35 weeks gestational age (GA) had the highest complication rates (93%), longer hospital LOS, and higher costs (P.004) than other former premature infants.Complications were common in infants hospitalized for bronchiolitis or RSV pneumonia and were associated with longer LOS and higher costs. Former premature infants and infants with congenital abnormalities are at significantly greater risk for complications. Broader use of RSV prevention should be considered for these higher-risk infants.

Human activity has contributed to climate change. The relationship between climate and child health has not been well investigated. This review discusses the role of climate change on child health and suggests 3 ways in which this relationship may manifest. First, environmental changes associated with anthropogenic greenhouse gases can lead to respiratory diseases, sunburn, melanoma, and immunosuppression. Second, climate change may directly cause heat stroke, drowning, gastrointestinal diseases, and psychosocial maldevelopment. Third, ecologic alterations triggered by climate change can increase rates of malnutrition, allergies and exposure to mycotoxins, vector-borne diseases (malaria, dengue, encephalitides, Lyme disease), and emerging infectious diseases. Further climate change is likely, given global industrial and political realities. Proactive and preventive physician action, research focused on the differential effects of climate change on subpopulations including children, and policy advocacy on the individual and federal levels could contain climate change and inform appropriate prevention and response.

Objective. Hospitalist systems decrease length of stay (LOS) and cost for hospitalized adults. Whether hospitalist systems decrease LOS and cost for hospitalized children has not been conclusively established. We wanted to determine whether a health maintenance organization’s (HMO’s) implementation of a pediatric hospitalist system affected LOS, costs, mortality, readmission rate, follow-up rate, and parents’ ratings of care. Design. Interrupted time-series study of general pediatric patients admitted to a freestanding pediatric teaching hospital from 1993 to 1998. The intervention group consisted of all patients admitted to a staff model not-for-profit HMO that began using hospitalists in October 1996. Patients in other HMOs and traditional insurance groups were studied for comparison. The main outcomes were mean LOS and inflation-adjusted costs. Other outcomes included parents’ ratings of care and mortality, readmission, and follow-up rates. Results. Immediately after the introduction of the hospitalist system, mean LOS for staff model not-for-profit HMO fell 12% (0.3 days), and mean cost of hospitalization decreased 16% ($217) compared with prehospitalist levels. Parental ratings of care, initially somewhat low, improved substantially. Seven-day follow-up rates, mortality, and readmission rates did not change. Comparison groups experienced no concurrent improvements in LOS, cost, parental ratings, mortality, or readmission rates. Conclusions. A pediatric hospitalist system within a staff-model HMO significantly improved LOS, cost, and parental ratings of care without affecting rates of posthospitalization follow-up. Additional studies are needed both to measure broader aspects of quality and to assess the impact of such a program on patients being cared for through other types of delivery and insurance systems.

ContextIatrogenic injuries, including medication errors, are an important problem in all hospitalized populations. However, few epidemiological data are available regarding medication errors in the pediatric inpatient setting.ObjectivesTo assess the rates of medication errors, adverse drug events (ADEs), and potential ADEs; to compare pediatric rates with previously reported adult rates; to analyze the major types of errors; and to evaluate the potential impact of prevention strategies.Design, Setting, and PatientsProspective cohort study of 1120 patients admitted to 2 academic institutions during 6 weeks in April and May of 1999.Main Outcome MeasuresMedication errors, potential ADEs, and ADEs were identified by clinical staff reports and review of medication order sheets, medication administration records, and patient charts.ResultsWe reviewed 10 778 medication orders and found 616 medication errors (5.7%), 115 potential ADEs (1.1%), and 26 ADEs (0.24%). Of the 26 ADEs, 5 (19%) were preventable. While the preventable ADE rate was similar to that of a previous adult hospital study, the potential ADE rate was 3 times higher. The rate of potential ADEs was significantly higher in neonates in the neonatal intensive care unit. Most potential ADEs occurred at the stage of drug ordering (79%) and involved incorrect dosing (34%), anti-infective drugs (28%), and intravenous medications (54%). Physician reviewers judged that computerized physician order entry could potentially have prevented 93% and ward-based clinical pharmacists 94% of potential ADEs.ConclusionsMedication errors are common in pediatric inpatient settings, and further efforts are needed to reduce them.

Sir, In reply to Dr Dobson ' s comments, the Traditional rotas in each individual doctor reflect common practices across the country, that do not always comply with the non-binding guidelines cited. We state in the paper that a 56-h working week is based on an average calculated over 6 months, as permitted by the European Working Time Directive (EWTD), and make the point very clearly that the ranges are more informative, revealing extremes of bad practices. We agree that the differences in the rotas would have contributed to the differences seen in error rates, which was the objective of the study. We did analyse data in the former 6 weeks and the latter 6 weeks and found no differences in error rates, although statistical significance was not achieved due to reduced power in sub-groups (data not shown but referred to in the text). We would have preferred not to have incurred a schedule change mid-way but this was a pragmatic real-world trial and we felt obliged to address the concerns raised. We are reasonably confident, however, …

Results Of the 4957 participants, 40.4% screened positive for at least 1 sleep disorder, most of whom had not been diagnosed previously. Of the total cohort, 1666 (33.6%) screened positive for obstructive sleep apnea, 281 (6.5%) for moderate to severe insomnia, 269 (5.4%) for shift work disorder (14.5% of those who worked the night shift). Of the 4608 participants who completed the sleepiness scale, 1312 (28.5%) reported excessive sleepiness. Of the total cohort, 1294 (26.1%) reported falling asleep while driving at least 1 time a month. Respondents who screened positive for obstructive sleep apnea or any sleep disorder had an increased prevalence of reported physical and mental health conditions, including diabetes, depression, and cardiovascular disease. An analysis of up to 2 years of monthly follow-up surveys showed that those respondents who screened positive for a sleep disorder vs those who did not had a higher rate of reporting that they had made a serious administrative error (17.9% vs 12.7%; adjusted odds ratio [OR], 1.43 [95% CI, 1.23-1.67]); of falling asleep while driving (14.4% vs 9.2%; adjusted OR, 1.51 [95% CI, 1.20-1.90]); of making an error or safety violation attributed to fatigue (23.7% vs 15.5%; adjusted OR, 1.63 [95% CI, 1.43-1.85]); and of exhibiting other adverse work-related outcomes including uncontrolled anger toward suspects (34.1% vs 28.5%; adjusted OR, 1.25 [95% CI, 1.09-1.43]), absenteeism (26.0% vs 20.9%; adjusted OR, 1.23 [95% CI, 1.08-1.40]), and falling asleep during meetings (14.1% vs 7.0%; adjusted OR, 1.95 [95% CI, 1.52-2.52]).

Long working hours and sleep deprivation have been a facet of physician training in the US since the advent of the modern residency system. However, the scientific evidence linking fatigue with deficits in human performance, accidents and errors in industries from aeronautics to medicine, nuclear power, and transportation has mounted over the last 40 years. This evidence has also spawned regulations to help ensure public safety across safety-sensitive industries, with the notable exception of medicine. In late 2007, at the behest of the US Congress, the Institute of Medicine embarked on a year-long examination of the scientific evidence linking resident physician sleep deprivation with clinical performance deficits and medical errors. The Institute of Medicine’s report, entitled “Resident duty hours: Enhancing sleep, supervision and safety”, published in January 2009, recommended new limits on resident physician work hours and workload, increased supervision, a heightened focus on resident physician safety, training in structured handovers and quality improvement, more rigorous external oversight of work hours and other aspects of residency training, and the identification of expanded funding sources necessary to implement the recommended reforms successfully and protect the public and resident physicians themselves from preventable harm. Given that resident physicians comprise almost a quarter of all physicians who work in hospitals, and that taxpayers, through Medicare and Medicaid, fund graduate medical education, the public has a deep investment in physician training. Patients expect to receive safe, high-quality care in the nation’s teaching hospitals. Because it is their safety that is at issue, their voices should be central in policy decisions affecting patient safety. It is likewise important to integrate the perspectives of resident physicians, policy makers, and other constituencies in designing new policies. However, since its release, discussion of the Institute of Medicine report has been largely confined to the medical education community, led by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME). To begin gathering these perspectives and developing a plan to implement safer work hours for resident physicians, a conference entitled “Enhancing sleep, supervision and safety: What will it take to implement the Institute of Medicine recommendations?” was held at Harvard Medical School on June 17–18, 2010. This White Paper is a product of a diverse group of 26 representative stakeholders bringing relevant new information and innovative practices to bear on a critical patient safety problem. Given that our conference included experts from across disciplines with diverse perspectives and interests, not every recommendation was endorsed by each invited conference participant. However, every recommendation made here was endorsed by the majority of the group, and many were endorsed unanimously. Conference members participated in the process, reviewed the final product, and provided input before publication. Participants provided their individual perspectives, which do not necessarily represent the formal views of any organization. In September 2010 the ACGME issued new rules to go into effect on July 1, 2011. Unfortunately, they stop considerably short of the Institute of Medicine’s recommendations and those endorsed by this conference. In particular, the ACGME only applied the limitation of 16 hours to first-year resident physicans. Thus, it is clear that policymakers, hospital administrators, and residency program directors who wish to implement safer health care systems must go far beyond what the ACGME will require. We hope this White Paper will serve as a guide and provide encouragement for that effort. Resident physician workload and supervision By the end of training, a resident physician should be able to practice independently. Yet much of resident physicians’ time is dominated by tasks with little educational value. The caseload can be so great that inadequate reflective time is left for learning based on clinical experiences. In addition, supervision is often vaguely defined and discontinuous. Medical malpractice data indicate that resident physicians are frequently named in lawsuits, most often for lack of supervision. The recommendations are: The ACGME should adjust resident physicians workload requirements to optimize educational value. Resident physicians as well as faculty should be involved in work redesign that eliminates nonessential and noneducational activity from resident physician dutiesMechanisms should be developed for identifying in real time when a resident physician’s workload is excessive, and processes developed to activate additional providersTeamwork should be actively encouraged in delivery of patient care. Historically, much of medical training has focused on individual knowledge, skills, and responsibility. As health care delivery has become more complex, it will be essential to train resident and attending physicians in effective teamwork that emphasizes collective responsibility for patient care and recognizes the signs, both individual and systemic, of a schedule and working conditions that are too demanding to be safeHospitals should embrace the opportunities that resident physician training redesign offers. Hospitals should recognize and act on the potential benefits of work redesign, eg, increased efficiency, reduced costs, improved quality of care, and resident physician and attending job satisfactionAttending physicians should supervise all hospital admissions. Resident physicians should directly discuss all admissions with attending physicians. Attending physicians should be both cognizant of and have input into the care patients are to receive upon admission to the hospitalInhouse supervision should be required for all critical care services, including emergency rooms, intensive care units, and trauma services. Resident physicians should not be left unsupervised to care for critically ill patients. In settings in which the acuity is high, physicians who have completed residency should provide direct supervision for resident physicians. Supervising physicians should always be physically in the hospital for supervision of resident physicians who care for critically ill patientsThe ACGME should explicitly define “good” supervision by specialty and by year of training. Explicit requirements for intensity and level of training for supervision of specific clinical scenarios should be providedCenters for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) should use graduate medical education funding to provide incentives to programs with proven, effective levels of supervision. Although this action would require federal legislation, reimbursement rules would help to ensure that hospitals pay attention to the importance of good supervision and require it from their training programs Resident physician work hours Although the IOM “Sleep, supervision and safety” report provides a comprehensive review and discussion of all aspects of graduate medical education training, the report’s focal point is its recommendations regarding the hours that resident physicians are currently required to work. A considerable body of scientific evidence, much of it cited by the Institute of Medicine report, describes deteriorating performance in fatigued humans, as well as specific studies on resident physician fatigue and preventable medical errors. The question before this conference was what work redesign and cultural changes are needed to reform work hours as recommended by the Institute of Medicine’s evidence-based report? Extensive scientific data demonstrate that shifts exceeding 12–16 hours without sleep are unsafe. Several principles should be followed in efforts to reduce consecutive hours below this level and achieve safer work schedules. The recommendations are: Limit resident physician work hours to 12–16 hour maximum shiftsA minimum of 10 hours off duty should be scheduled between shiftsResident physician input into work redesign should be actively solicitedSchedules should be designed that adhere to principles of sleep and circadian science; this includes careful consideration of the effects of multiple consecutive night shifts, and provision of adequate time off after night work, as specified in the IOM reportResident physicians should not be scheduled up to the maximum permissible limits; emergencies frequently occur that require resident physicians to stay longer than their scheduled shifts, and this should be anticipated in scheduling resident physicians’ work shiftsHospitals should anticipate the need for iterative improvement as new schedules are initiated; be prepared to learn from the initial phase-in, and change the plan as neededAs resident physician work hours are redesigned, attending physicians should also be considered; a potential consequence of resident physician work hour reduction and increased supervisory requirements may be an increase in work for attending physicians; this should be carefully monitored, and adjustments to attending physician work schedules made as needed to prevent unsafe work hours or working conditions for this group“Home call” should be brought under the overall limits of working hours; work load and hours should be monitored in each residency program to ensure that resident physicians and fellows on home call are getting sufficient sleepMedicare funding for graduate medical education in each hospital should be linked with adherence to the Institute of Medicine limits on resident physician work hours Moonlighting by resident physicians The Institute of Medicine report recommended including external as well as internal moonlighting in working hour limits. The recommendation is: All moonlighting work hours should be included in the ACGME working hour limits and actively monitored. Hospitals should formalize a moonlighting policy and establish systems for actively monitoring resident physician moonlighting Safety of resident physicians The “Sleep, supervision and safety” report also addresses fatigue-related harm done to resident physicians themselves. The report focuses on two main sources of physical injury to resident physicians impaired by fatigue, ie, needle-stick exposure to blood-borne pathogens and motor vehicle crashes. Providing safe transportation home for resident physicians is a logistical and financial challenge for hospitals. Educating physicians at all levels on the dangers of fatigue is clearly required to change driving behavior so that safe hospital-funded transport home is used effectively. Fatigue-related injury prevention (including not driving while drowsy) should be taught in medical school and during residency, and reinforced with attending physicians; hospitals and residency programs must be informed that resident physicians’ ability to judge their own level of impairment is impaired when they are sleep deprived; hence, leaving decisions about the capacity to drive to impaired resident physicians is not recommendedHospitals should provide transportation to all resident physicians who report feeling too tired to drive safely; in addition, although consecutive work should not exceed 16 hours, hospitals should provide transportation for all resident physicians who, because of unforeseen reasons or emergencies, work for longer than consecutive 24 hours; transportation under these circumstances should be automatically provided to house staff, and should not rely on self-identification or request Training in effective handovers and quality improvement Handover practice for resident physicians, attendings, and other health care providers has long been identified as a weak link in patient safety throughout health care settings. Policies to improve handovers of care must be tailored to fit the appropriate clinical scenario, recognizing that information overload can also be a problem. At the heart of improving handovers is the organizational effort to improve quality, an effort in which resident physicians have typically been insufficiently engaged. The recommendations are: Hospitals should train attending and resident physicians in effective handovers of careHospitals should create uniform processes for handovers that are tailored to meet each clinical setting; all handovers should be done verbally and face-to-face, but should also utilize written toolsWhen possible, hospitals should integrate hand-over tools into their electronic medical records (EMR) systems; these systems should be standardized to the extent possible across residency programs in a hospital, but may be tailored to the needs of specific programs and services; federal government should help subsidize adoption of electronic medical records by hospitals to improve signoutWhen feasible, handovers should be a team effort including nurses, patients, and familiesHospitals should include residents in their quality improvement and patient safety efforts; the ACGME should specify in their core competency requirements that resident physicians work on quality improvement projects; likewise, the Joint Commission should require that resident physicians be included in quality improvement and patient safety programs at teaching hospitals; hospital administrators and residency program directors should create opportunities for resident physicians to become involved in ongoing quality improvement projects and root cause analysis teams; feedback on successful quality improvement interventions should be shared with resident physicians and broadly disseminatedQuality improvement/patient safety concepts should be integral to the medical school curriculum; medical school deans should elevate the topics of patient safety, quality improvement, and teamwork; these concepts should be integrated throughout the medical school curriculum and reinforced throughout residency; mastery of these concepts by medical students should be tested on the United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) stepsFederal government should support involvement of resident physicians in quality improvement efforts; initiatives to improve quality by including resident physicians in quality improvement projects should be financially supported by the Department of Health and Human Services Monitoring and oversight of the ACGME While the ACGME is a key stakeholder in residency training, external voices are essential to ensure that public interests are heard in the development and monitoring of standards. Consequently, the Institute of Medicine report recommended external oversight and monitoring through the Joint Commission and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). The recommendations are: Make comprehensive fatigue management a Joint Commission National Patient Safety Goal; fatigue is a safety concern not only for resident physicians, but also for nurses, attending physicians, and other health care workers; the Joint Commission should seek to ensure that all health care workers, not just resident physicians, are working as safely as possibleFederal government, including the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, should encourage development of comprehensive fatigue management programs which all health systems would eventually be required to implementMake ACGME compliance with working hours a “ condition of participation” for reimbursement of direct and indirect graduate medical education costs; financial incentives will greatly increase the adoption of and compliance with ACGME standards Future financial support for implementation The Institute of Medicine’s report estimates that $1.7 billion (in 2008 dollars) would be needed to implement its recommendations. Twenty-five percent of that amount ($376 million) will be required just to bring hospitals into compliance with the existing 2003 ACGME rules. Downstream savings to the health care system could potentially result from safer care, but these benefits typically do not accrue to hospitals and residency programs, who have been asked historically to bear the burden of residency reform costs. The recommendations are: The Institute of Medicine should convene a panel of stakeholders, including private and public funders of health care and graduate medical education, to lay down the concrete steps necessary to identify and allocate the resources needed to implement the recommendations contained in the IOM “Resident duty hours: Enhancing sleep, supervision and safety” report. Conference participants suggested several approaches to engage public and private support for this initiativeEfforts to find additional funding to implement the Institute of Medicine recommendations should focus more broadly on patient safety and health care delivery reform; policy efforts focused narrowly upon resident physician work hours are less likely to succeed than broad patient safety initiatives that include residency redesign as a key componentHospitals should view the Institute of Medicine recommendations as an opportunity to begin resident physician work redesign projects as the core of a business model that embraces safety and ultimately saves resourcesBoth the Secretary of Health and Human Services and the Director of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services should take the Institute of Medicine recommendations into consideration when promulgating rules for innovation grantsThe National Health Care Workforce Commission should consider the Institute of Medicine recommendations when analyzing the nation’s physician workforce needs Recommendations for future research Conference participants concurred that convening the stakeholders and agreeing on a research agenda was key. Some observed that some sectors within the medical education community have been reluctant to act on the data. Several logical funders for future research were identified. But above all agencies, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is the only stakeholder that funds graduate medical education upstream and will reap savings downstream if preventable medical errors are reduced as a result of reform of resident physician work hours.

Objectives.—To document the prevalence and practice patterns of pediatric hospitalists in academic centers in Canada and the United States; to characterize academic pediatric department chairs' definition of the term hospitalist; and to characterize pediatric department chairs' views of the training requirements for pediatric hospitalists. Methods.—A 14-item questionnaire was sent to all 145 pediatric department chairs from Canada and the United States during the fall of 1998. We defined hospitalists as physicians spending at least 25% of their time in inpatient care. Results.—Of the 145 eligible pediatric chairs, 128 (89%) responded (United States, 111/126; Canada, 14/16; Puerto Rico, 3/3). Ninety-nine (77%) of 128 pediatric chairs either have (64/128) or are planning to have (35/128) hospitalists in their institutions. Within academic programs with hospitalists, 82% of hospitalists currently work on general pediatric wards. Two thirds of hospitalists teach, 50% provide outpatient care, 50% have administrative duties, and 44% conduct research. One hundred eight (84%) of 128 believe that hospitalists should spend at least 50% of their time in inpatient care. Less than one third (30%) of pediatric chairs believe that hospitalists require training not currently provided in residency. Conclusions.—A large proportion of academic pediatric centers either employed or planned to employ hospitalists in 1998. Pediatric academic department chairs do not see a need for training beyond residency for hospitalists. Further studies should address how pediatric hospitalists affect quality of care, cost, and patient satisfaction.

To the Editor: In July, a six-year-old child undergoing magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in New York suffered a skull fracture and intracranial hemorrhage after an oxygen tank that had been brought...

We thank Dr Inoue for the thoughtful comments on our article. We agree that the mechanisms driving hospitalists and pediatricians to follow evidence-based guidelines need to be explored further. Dr Inoue was concerned that our statement, “Hospitalists both specialize in inpatient pediatrics and attend a greater number of inpatients per year, and this study suggests that this expertise leads to greater adherence to evidence-based therapies,” was …

ContextSleep deprivation is associated with increased risk of serious medical errors and motor vehicle crashes among interns. The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) introduced duty-hour standards in 2003 to reduce work hours.ObjectiveTo estimate compliance with the ACGME duty-hour standards among interns.Design, Setting, and ParticipantsNational prospective cohort study with monthly Web-based survey assessment of intern work and sleep hours using a validated instrument, conducted preimplementation (July 2002 through May 2003) and postimplementation (July 2003 through May 2004) of ACGME standards. Participants were 4015 of the approximately 37 253 interns in US residency programs in all specialties during this time; they completed 29 477 reports of their work and sleep hours.Main Outcome MeasureOverall and monthly rates of compliance with the ACGME standards.ResultsPostimplementation, 1068 (83.6%; 95% confidence interval [CI], 81.4%-85.5%) of 1278 of interns reported work hours in violation of the standards during 1 or more months. Working shifts greater than 30 consecutive hours was reported by 67.4% (95% CI, 64.8%-70.0%). Averaged over 4 weeks, 43.0% (95% CI, 40.3%-45.7%) reported working more than 80 hours weekly, and 43.7% (95% CI, 41.0%-46.5%) reported not having 1 day in 7 off work duties. Violations were reported during 3765 (44.0%; 95% CI, 43.0%-45.1%) of the 8553 intern-months assessed postimplementation (including vacation and ambulatory rotations), and during 2660 (61.5%; 95% CI, 60.0%-62.9%) of 4327 intern-months during which interns worked exclusively in inpatient settings. Postimplementation, 29.0% (95% CI, 28.7%-29.7%) of reported work weeks were more than 80 hours per week, 12.1% (95% CI, 11.8%-12.6%) were 90 or more hours per week, and 3.9% (95% CI, 3.7%-4.2%) were 100 or more hours per week. Comparing preimplementation to postimplementation responses, reported mean work duration decreased 5.8% from 70.7 (95% CI, 70.5-70.9) hours to 66.6 (95% CI, 66.3-66.9) hours per week (P