The need for 24-hour emergency care requires emergency department (ED) staff to work in shifts. We observed shift transitions in 5 EDs as part of a study on safety in emergency care. We found the observable characteristics of shift transitions to be highly variable across institutions and dynamically variable within shift change episodes. However, across all sites, turnovers were interactional rather than transactional, and were highly tailored to the immediate context. The high degree of situatedness in the turnovers suggest they are not likely to be adapted to a standardized tool or protocol.
MatthewsA. L.HarveyC. M. (2002). Emergency physician to admitting physician handovers: an exploratory study. Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society 46th Annual Meeting, Baltimore, MD, Human Factors and Ergonomics Society.
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WearsR. L.PerryS. J. (2003). Shift changes among emergency physicians: best of times, worst of times. Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society 47th Annual Meeting, Denver, CO, Human Factors and Ergonomics Society.
