Prevalence and contributing factors of workflow interruptions among nurses in general hospitals in Kashan, Iran: a cross-sectional study
This 2024 cross-sectional study of 300 nurses in Kashan, Iran, reveals that workflow interruptions are highly prevalent, particularly in high-demand wards like the operating room and ICU, and are significantly influenced by factors such as ward type, overtime hours, and family income.
Original paper licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). This is an AI-generated explanation of the paper below. It is not written or endorsed by the authors. For technical accuracy, refer to the original paper. Read full disclaimer
Imagine a busy kitchen where a chef is trying to plate a delicate dish. Suddenly, the phone rings, a sous-chef asks a question, the oven beeps, and a customer rushes in with a special request. Every time the chef stops to handle one of these things, they have to pause, remember where they were, and start again. In the world of science, this is called a "workflow interruption." It's not just about being busy; it's about the mental "glitch" that happens when a task is broken up. In hospitals, nurses are the chefs, and their "dishes" are patient care tasks like giving medicine or checking vital signs. When these tasks get interrupted, it can slow things down, make the nurse tired, and sometimes, sadly, lead to mistakes that could hurt a patient. Scientists have long known that interruptions happen a lot in hospitals, but they wanted to know exactly what causes them most often and where they happen the most, so they can figure out how to fix the kitchen.
This study, conducted in 2024 in Kashan, Iran, decided to peek behind the curtain of six general hospitals to see what was really going on. The researchers asked 300 nurses to fill out a survey about their day, treating their experiences like a scorecard. They wanted to see if things like how much overtime a nurse worked, what kind of hospital room they were in, or even how much money their family made changed how often their workflow got interrupted.
The results painted a very clear picture. The most common "kitchen chaos" came from something surprisingly simple: answering the ward phone. More than half of the nurses said they had to pick up the phone at least five times a day. It was like the phone was a relentless buzzer that wouldn't stop. On the flip side, dramatic emergency situations were actually the least common reason for stopping; most nurses said they "almost never" had to stop their work for an emergency, which is a bit of a relief.
When the researchers looked at the different hospital rooms, they found that some places were much noisier than others. The operating rooms, surgical wards, psychiatric wards, and Intensive Care Units (ICUs) had the highest "interruption scores." It makes sense, like a busy intersection where cars, pedestrians, and sirens all collide at once. The study also found that the type of room a nurse worked in, how much overtime they did (which averaged about 62 hours a month—quite a lot!), and their family's income were all linked to how often they got interrupted.
However, the study also ruled out some things people might guess. It turns out that a nurse's age, whether they were married, how many kids they had, or their level of education didn't seem to change how often they got interrupted. The chaos of the hospital didn't care if you were 25 or 45, or if you were a single mom or a married dad; the interruptions happened to everyone.
The researchers suggest that while we can't stop every interruption (some are necessary to keep patients safe), we might be able to fix the ones we can control. Since the phone was the biggest culprit, maybe hospitals need a better system for handling calls, like having a dedicated person to answer them so nurses can focus on their patients. The study doesn't prove that changing the phone system will fix everything, but it strongly suggests that managing these specific distractions could help nurses work better and keep patients safer. It's a reminder that sometimes, the smallest things—like a ringing phone—can have the biggest impact on the most important jobs.
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