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Clinical question: Why do healthcare providers work while sick?
Background: Healthcare providers generally are aware of the risks of infection to hospitalized patients; however, despite this knowledge, several studies have revealed providers continue to work while ill.
Study design: Mixed-method analysis of a cross-sectional survey.
Setting: Large academic children’s hospital.
Synopsis: Investigators completed 538 of 929 surveys of attending physicians and advanced practice clinicians (APCs), a response rate of 58%. Of the respondents, 95% agreed that sick providers continuing patient care increased their patients’ risk for infection; however, 83% admitted to caring for patients while sick, with physicians being more likely to do so.
Several factors contributed to this behavior, including fear of letting colleagues or patients down, fear of ostracism by colleagues, and concerns for understaffing or discontinuity of care. Qualitative analysis of free-text responses revealed additional factors, including the difficulty of finding sick coverage, the strong cultural norms to continue working unless severely ill, and the ambiguity of defining “too sick to work.”
Limitations of this study included possible response bias, lack of a validated survey, and inclusion of only a single center; however, results confirm prior studies and reveal additional systems factors that hospital leadership could address, supporting providers and improving patient care.
Bottom line: Sick healthcare providers face several challenges that drive them to put their patients at risk by continuing patient care, and these factors could be addressed by healthcare systems as a means of improving overall quality of care.
Citation: Szymczak JE, Smathers S, Hoegg C, Klieger S, Coffin SE, Sammons JS. Reasons why physicians and advanced practice clinicians work while sick: a mixed-methods analysis. JAMA Pediatr. 2015;169(9):815-821. doi:10.1001/jamapediatrics.2015.0684.
Clinical question: Why do healthcare providers work while sick?
Background: Healthcare providers generally are aware of the risks of infection to hospitalized patients; however, despite this knowledge, several studies have revealed providers continue to work while ill.
Study design: Mixed-method analysis of a cross-sectional survey.
Setting: Large academic children’s hospital.
Synopsis: Investigators completed 538 of 929 surveys of attending physicians and advanced practice clinicians (APCs), a response rate of 58%. Of the respondents, 95% agreed that sick providers continuing patient care increased their patients’ risk for infection; however, 83% admitted to caring for patients while sick, with physicians being more likely to do so.
Several factors contributed to this behavior, including fear of letting colleagues or patients down, fear of ostracism by colleagues, and concerns for understaffing or discontinuity of care. Qualitative analysis of free-text responses revealed additional factors, including the difficulty of finding sick coverage, the strong cultural norms to continue working unless severely ill, and the ambiguity of defining “too sick to work.”
Limitations of this study included possible response bias, lack of a validated survey, and inclusion of only a single center; however, results confirm prior studies and reveal additional systems factors that hospital leadership could address, supporting providers and improving patient care.
Bottom line: Sick healthcare providers face several challenges that drive them to put their patients at risk by continuing patient care, and these factors could be addressed by healthcare systems as a means of improving overall quality of care.
Citation: Szymczak JE, Smathers S, Hoegg C, Klieger S, Coffin SE, Sammons JS. Reasons why physicians and advanced practice clinicians work while sick: a mixed-methods analysis. JAMA Pediatr. 2015;169(9):815-821. doi:10.1001/jamapediatrics.2015.0684.
Clinical question: Why do healthcare providers work while sick?
Background: Healthcare providers generally are aware of the risks of infection to hospitalized patients; however, despite this knowledge, several studies have revealed providers continue to work while ill.
Study design: Mixed-method analysis of a cross-sectional survey.
Setting: Large academic children’s hospital.
Synopsis: Investigators completed 538 of 929 surveys of attending physicians and advanced practice clinicians (APCs), a response rate of 58%. Of the respondents, 95% agreed that sick providers continuing patient care increased their patients’ risk for infection; however, 83% admitted to caring for patients while sick, with physicians being more likely to do so.
Several factors contributed to this behavior, including fear of letting colleagues or patients down, fear of ostracism by colleagues, and concerns for understaffing or discontinuity of care. Qualitative analysis of free-text responses revealed additional factors, including the difficulty of finding sick coverage, the strong cultural norms to continue working unless severely ill, and the ambiguity of defining “too sick to work.”
Limitations of this study included possible response bias, lack of a validated survey, and inclusion of only a single center; however, results confirm prior studies and reveal additional systems factors that hospital leadership could address, supporting providers and improving patient care.
Bottom line: Sick healthcare providers face several challenges that drive them to put their patients at risk by continuing patient care, and these factors could be addressed by healthcare systems as a means of improving overall quality of care.
Citation: Szymczak JE, Smathers S, Hoegg C, Klieger S, Coffin SE, Sammons JS. Reasons why physicians and advanced practice clinicians work while sick: a mixed-methods analysis. JAMA Pediatr. 2015;169(9):815-821. doi:10.1001/jamapediatrics.2015.0684.