MedPath

Apples in Night Shift

Not Applicable
Not yet recruiting
Conditions
Night Work
Registration Number
NCT06714422
Lead Sponsor
Peking University Third Hospital
Brief Summary

Background: Emergency doctors face a highly stressful work environment during night shifts. Long-term night shift work can lead to sleep deprivation, fatigue accumulation, and disruption of the biological clock, which may affect doctors' work efficiency and physical and mental health. There are various health interventions for night shift doctors, one of which is an interesting practice of carrying an apple as a symbol of the "night shift deity" to relieve anxiety and improve work efficiency. Although this behavior is not supported by sufficient scientific evidence, it has become a common habit among some doctors during night shifts due to its simplicity, low risk, and ritualistic nature.

Objective: To assess whether carrying an apple during night shifts can significantly reduce fatigue, decrease work intensity, and enhance work experience for emergency doctors.

Design: Single-center, open-label, randomized controlled trial.

Participants: several doctors with a total of 60 emergency working night shifts.

Primary Outcome: Average number of patients per night shift.

Sample Size: The study plans to recruit several doctors with a total of 60 emergency night shifts and randomly assign them to the experimental group and the control group. One doctor can be randomized for many times.

Detailed Description

Background: Emergency doctors face a highly stressful work environment during night shifts. Long-term night shift work can lead to sleep deprivation, fatigue accumulation, and disruption of the biological clock, which may affect doctors' work efficiency and physical and mental health. There are various health interventions for night shift doctors, one of which is an interesting practice of carrying an apple as a symbol of the "night shift deity" to relieve anxiety and improve work efficiency. Although this behavior is not supported by sufficient scientific evidence, it has become a common habit among some doctors during night shifts due to its simplicity, low risk, and ritualistic nature.

Objective: To assess whether carrying an apple during night shifts can significantly reduce fatigue, decrease work intensity, and enhance work experience for emergency doctors.

Design: Single-center, open-label, randomized controlled trial.

Participants: several doctors with a total of 60 emergency working night shifts.

Primary Outcome: Average number of patients per night shift.

Sample Size: The study plans to recruit several doctors with a total of 60 emergency night shifts and randomly assign them to the experimental group and the control group. One doctor can be randomized for many times.

Recruitment & Eligibility

Status
NOT_YET_RECRUITING
Sex
All
Target Recruitment
60
Inclusion Criteria

Doctors who have a night shift in the emergency department of gynaecology with at least two weeks experience.

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Exclusion Criteria

Doctors who refuse to join the study

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Study & Design

Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Study Design
PARALLEL
Primary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
number of patientsfrom 5pm on the Randomization day to 8am on the next day

Number of patients during the night shift

Secondary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
Evaluation of night shiftsfrom 5pm on the Randomization day to 8am on the next day

Overall evaluation of night shifts by doctors (Good, Average, Poor)

Emergency admissionsfrom 5pm on the Randomization day to 8am on the next day

Admissions of emergency patients during the night shift randomized.

Emergency surgery numberfrom 5pm on the Randomization day to 8am on the next day

Number of patients who experience emergency surgery during the night shift.

Emergency uterine evacuation numberfrom 5pm on the Randomization day to 8am on the next day

Number of patients who need emergency uterine evacuation during the night shift.

Complicated patients numberfrom 5pm on the Randomization day to 8am on the next day

The number of patients needs to be checked by a senior doctor

Doctor's break timefrom 5pm on the Randomization day to 8am on the next day

The time (hours) of the doctor's break.

Number of patients admitted to emergency roomfrom 5pm on the Randomization day to 8am on the next day

The number of people who need to be admitted to the emergency room

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