Self-reported subjective workload of on-call interns

Workload has traditionally been measured by using surrogates, such as number of patients admitted or census, but these may not fully represent the complex concept of workload. We measured self-reported subjective workload of interns and explored the relationship between subjective workload and possi...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of graduate medical education 2013-09, Vol.5 (3), p.427-432
Main Authors: Fletcher, Kathlyn E, Visotcky, Alexis M, Slagle, Jason M, Tarima, Sergey, Whittle, Jeff, Weinger, Matthew B, Schapira, Marilyn M
Format: Article
Language:English
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Original Research
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Summary:Workload has traditionally been measured by using surrogates, such as number of patients admitted or census, but these may not fully represent the complex concept of workload. We measured self-reported subjective workload of interns and explored the relationship between subjective workload and possible predictors of it. Trained research assistants observed internal medicine interns on call on a general medicine service. Approximately once an hour, the research assistants recorded the self-reported subjective workload of the interns by using Borg's Self-Perceived Exertion Scale, a 6 to 20 scale, and also recorded their own perceptions of the intern's workload. Research assistants continuously recorded the tasks performed by the interns. Interns were surveyed before and after the observation to obtain demographic and census data. Our sample included 25 interns, with a mean age of 28.6 years (SD, 2.4 years). Mean self-reported subjective workload was 12.0 (SD, 2.4). Mean self-reported subjective workload was significantly correlated with intern age (r  =  0.49, P 
ISSN:1949-8349
1949-8357
DOI:10.4300/JGME-D-12-00241.1