title: Reasons for interrupting colleagues during emergency department work - A qualitative study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Emergency department team members frequently need to interact with each other, a circumstance causing multiple interruptions. However, information is lacking about the motives underlying these interruptions and this study aimed to explore clinicians' reasons to interrupt colleagues during emergency department work.
  
  
  METHODS
  Semi-structured interviews with 10 physicians and 10 registered nurses at two Swedish emergency departments. The interviews were analyzed inductively using content analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The working conditions to some extent sustained the clinicians' need to interrupt, for example different routines. Another reason to interrupt was to improve the initiator's work process, such as when the initiators perceived that the interruption had high clinical relevance. The third reason concerns the desire to influence the work process of colleagues in order to prevent mistakes and provide information for the person being interrupted to improve patient care.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The three identified categories for why emergency department clinicians interrupt their colleagues were related to working conditions and a wish to improve/influence the work processes for both initiators and recipients. Several of the reasons given for interrupting colleagues were done in order to improve patient care. Interruptions perceived as negative to the recipient were mostly related to the working conditions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine Solna, Karolinska Institutet, and Department of Emergency Medicine Solna, Karolinska University Hospital, SE-171 76 Stockholm, Sweden. Electronic address: lena.berg@karolinska.se.
authors.forename: Lena M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Berg
authors.affiliation: School of Education, Health and Social Studies, Dalarna University, Falun, Sweden.
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Florin
authors.affiliation: School of Education, Health and Social Studies, Dalarna University, Falun, Sweden; School of Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Health, Örebro University, Örebro, Sweden.
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ehrenberg
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine Solna, Karolinska Institutet, and Department of Emergency Medicine Solna, Karolinska University Hospital, SE-171 76 Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Östergren
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine Solna, Karolinska Institutet, and Department of Emergency Medicine Solna, Karolinska University Hospital, SE-171 76 Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Therese
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Djärv
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine Solna, Karolinska Institutet, and Department of Emergency Medicine Solna, Karolinska University Hospital, SE-171 76 Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Katarina E
authors.initials: KE
authors.lastname: Göransson
mesh_terms: D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000592:standards; D006801:Humans; D007400:Interprofessional Relations; D009726:Nurses / Q000523:psychology; D010820:Physicians / Q000523:psychology; D036301:Qualitative Research; D013548:Sweden
keywords: Clinicians; Emergency care; Interruption; Patient safety; Physician; Registered nurse; Work environment