Interrupted Care

OBJECTIVE: To determine the content and urgency of pages and their effect on the activities of pediatric residents. DESIGN: Prospective survey. SETTING: University-affiliated teaching hospital. PARTICIPANTS: Seventeen pediatric residents on regular pediatric services. INTERVENTIONS: None. MEASUREMENTS/MAIN RESULTS: On daily logs, interns recorded the activity interrupted by a page and rated the urgency and importance of the page. Almost half of all pages interrupted patient care activities, and 24% interrupted scheduled work rounds or teaching conferences. Interns reported that 34% of pages resulted in a change in patient treatment, but they rated 25% of all pages as unimportant. CONCLUSIONS: "Beepers" frequently interrupt pediatric residents involved in patient care activities and scheduled educational conferences. Studies of interventions aimed at decreasing unnecessary interruptions by pages are needed.