Work Hour Reductions, Medical Errors, and Intern Well-Being at Providence St. Vincent Medical Center Intensive Care Unit

Not Applicable

Completed

• Conditions: Sleep Deprivation; Depression
• Interventions: Other: Reduced work hour schedule

• Registration Number: NCT00996320
• Lead Sponsor: Providence Health & Services

Brief Summary

The purpose of this study is to determine whether reducing intern work hours and eliminating extended shifts in the intensive care unit will reduce prescribing errors and improve intern well-being.

Detailed Description

Each intern enrolled will complete three 4-week rotations in the intensive care unit (ICU) at Providence St. Vincent Medical Center. Each intern will complete at least one traditional schedule and one intervention schedule. The traditional schedule consists of an 80-hour work week with overnight call every third night. The longest shift on the traditional schedule is 30 hours. The intervention schedule consists of a 60-hour work week which eliminates overnight call by assigning a variety of shifts ranging from 8 to 16 hours in length.

Study Timeline

• Study Start: 2008-06
• Primary Completion: 2009-06
• Study Completion: 2009-06
• Study First Submitted: 2009-08-28
• Status Verified: 2009-10
• Study First Submitted QC: 2009-10-15
• Last Update Submitted: 2009-10-15
• Study First Posted: 2009-10-16
• Last Update Posted: 2009-10-16

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: COMPLETED
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 22

Inclusion Criteria

• Interns rotating at Providence St. Vincent Medical Center ICU

Exclusion Criteria

• Diagnosis of narcolepsy

Study & Design

• Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Design: CROSSOVER

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
Intervention Schedule	Reduced work hour schedule	Interns on the intervention schedule work the a modified ICU schedule averaging about 60 hours per week over 4 weeks, with maximum scheduled shift length 16 hours.

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Multiple Sleep Latency Test	Measured once a month for each intern while on ICU rotation, at least 14 days into the scheduled 28 day cycle

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Hours slept per night measured by actigraphy	Daily
Pharmaceutical order error rate	Daily
Burnout measured by Maslach Burnout Inventory	Measured once per month for each intern while on ICU rotation, at least 14 days into the 28 day rotation
Beck Depression Inventory, Second Edition (BDI-II)	Measured once per month for each intern while on ICU rotation, at least 14 days into the 28 day rotation
Hours worked per shift on the traditional and intervention schedules	Daily

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

Providence St. Vincent Medical Center Intensive Care Unit; 🇺🇸 Portland, Oregon, United States