People's ability to execute future intentions, or their prospective memory (PM), is a critical aspect of cognitive work because failures can have adverse outcomes. Most research to date deals with unaided prospective memory performance outside a healthcare context. We report results from a field study investigating PM performance of intensive care nurses. Concepts from distributed cognition help to identify how nurses use physical properties of their working environment to manage PM demands. Results show that (1) PM demands can be classified using a taxonomy from aviation and (2) nurses are supported by and use properties of the environment to manage PM demands. Focusing on distributed support for prospective memory lets us study prospective memory in rich work contexts. The results inform health information system and device design and professional education.
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