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Dealing with Daily Distractions
All of our medical records, from chart notes to sending prescriptions directly to the pharmacy are electronic now. In the old days (a few years ago), we would simply write out our prescriptions and write our chart notes on paper (assuming medical records could find the chart). Both prescriptions and chart notes were notoriously and sometimes, dangerously, illegible. Electronic medical records, although time-consuming and cumbersome, have nearly eliminated these issues...unless you are distracted.
Charting in the room, while the patient is still there, can be problematic. When you are trying to transmit a prescription to the pharmacy, or write a note, the patient may create a distraction by talking or remembering that they have another issue. Charting at your desk can be problematic because other people will see you. A medical assistant will ask you a question, or there will be someone just walking by and wants to say hello. These are distractions that cause me to either forget to transmit the prescription, or send prescriptions to the wrong pharmacy...a different state, or close a record before I have finished my progress notes.
Phones are always a distraction, so I try to limit making or taking non-essential calls until lunch or after work, when the patient visits are completed. Unless it is an emergency, I don't want the staff knocking on the exam room door to tell me someone is on the phone. Patients are getting slick. They tell the receptionist that they are returning my call. One of my friends tends to use different, made-up doctor names when he calls so that I will be interrupted. I was distracted by one of "Dr. Singh's" calls yesterday.
In California and other states, it is now illegal to talk on a cell phone that is not hands-free. Of course, I still see dozens of people talking or texting on cell phones as I drive to work. There is even a flashing sign near my exit that says, "Please do not text-message while driving." According to some authorities, talking on cell phones results in nearly 3,000 deaths per year, and not all of those deaths were people who were on the phone. There is some movement in this country to prohibit ALL cell phone use, hands-free or not, simply due to the distraction level. This is kind of silly since there are certainly more distractions for drivers than just using a hands-free phone.
When my youngest son earned his drivers license (age 16), we gave him permission to drive the family car to school a few days later. On the way to school (two miles), he rear-ended a State Farm insurance agent whose boyfriend is a lawyer! He was distracted by his teenager passengers fighting over the radio. California now has a "no passenger" law for new teen drivers. This is a good law.
Several years ago, I was following a car. The driver seemed to be very distracted by a disruptive child in the back seat. He kept turning around, yelling at him, and trying to grab him as he slid from side to side successfully avoiding a one-arm capture. A few minutes later, I see a belt being randomly whipped at the kid; the driver (assumed to be the father) running off of the road and nearly killing both of them. Disruptive kids are always a distraction when you drive, but it is always best to pull off of the road before attempting any corporal punishment.
Studies have shown that even music in the car can affect driving, with classical music having a calming effect (hopefully not to the point of falling asleep) to hard rock music having an opposite effect - speeding. I have even seen people arm dancing in cars and a few air guitars. Should we ban radios and stereos? I would be first to vote against those eardrum-bursting bass speakers!
I enjoy music, but not at work. I absolutely hate music on-hold. One medical assistant likes to program the speaker phones at the nursing station so music is playing. If I can hear it, it is terribly distracting. After repeated attempts to have her turn if off, she would do it over and over again. She told me that it was "her right" to listen to music. To make a long story short, I made sure she exercised her right to work somewhere else. I am not going to even talk about over-hearing "girl talk" - the conversations that are constantly going on at the nurse's station. I close my door.
What about distracting eating? There is nothing more distracting about plopping a juicy burrito on your clean shirt to affect driving. Safe foods might include chicken nuggets (without the sauce), or drinks (with a straw). If you don't have to take your eyes off of the road or worry about spillage, it is certainly safer. Accident-waiting-to-happen foods include anything scalding hot that you might hold between your legs. Ouch. Parents always bring food to doctor's visits so their kids can eat while they wait. I find the smell of McDonald french fries distracting, especially when I am hungry.
"Would you mind putting away those fries? Gimme a few first..."
I tend to eat at my desk so I can make phone calls or finish up charts, even though I have to shake the crumbs out of my keyboard periodically. Unless I close my door, I will experience distracting interruptions, perhaps starting with, "I know you are eating lunch, but a patient just walked in the door..." I have started leaving work for 15 minutes so I can find a quiet place to eat my lunch; a task that is becoming more and more impossible.
Another medical provider created a kitchen of sorts in his office - microwave, refrigerator, coffee-maker, etc. One day, he dropped a hot bowl of soup on his CRT computer monitor and keyboard. I am sure the smoke and sparks were a bit distracting, as well as cleaning up all of those noodles. He deserved it. I was getting damn tired of smelling his burnt popcorn wafting through the halls.
Other medical provider distractions include patients taking cell phone calls during a visit, kids playing loud video games, and unsupervised kids digging around in the drawers or pounding on my work computer. I even had a mother this week text-messaging WHILE I was talking to her! Unintentional (and expected) distractions include babies who decide that this would be a great time to take a steamy, eye-watering bowel movement. Our examination rooms have the worst ventilation, too. Medical providers always have to watch those crafty Dads. They are the most likely ones to hide a poopy diaper in the trash receptacle and not say anything. I am pretty tolerant of most human smells, like bad breath, B.O, and adolescent feet, but those smells can definitely be distracting. I am also not a big fan of over-perfumed people.
Maybe it's me? I seemed to be distracted by all kinds of sights, sounds, actions, and smells. Maybe I need a different line of work?
Related Topics:
Charting in the room, while the patient is still there, can be problematic. When you are trying to transmit a prescription to the pharmacy, or write a note, the patient may create a distraction by talking or remembering that they have another issue. Charting at your desk can be problematic because other people will see you. A medical assistant will ask you a question, or there will be someone just walking by and wants to say hello. These are distractions that cause me to either forget to transmit the prescription, or send prescriptions to the wrong pharmacy...a different state, or close a record before I have finished my progress notes.
Phones are always a distraction, so I try to limit making or taking non-essential calls until lunch or after work, when the patient visits are completed. Unless it is an emergency, I don't want the staff knocking on the exam room door to tell me someone is on the phone. Patients are getting slick. They tell the receptionist that they are returning my call. One of my friends tends to use different, made-up doctor names when he calls so that I will be interrupted. I was distracted by one of "Dr. Singh's" calls yesterday.
In California and other states, it is now illegal to talk on a cell phone that is not hands-free. Of course, I still see dozens of people talking or texting on cell phones as I drive to work. There is even a flashing sign near my exit that says, "Please do not text-message while driving." According to some authorities, talking on cell phones results in nearly 3,000 deaths per year, and not all of those deaths were people who were on the phone. There is some movement in this country to prohibit ALL cell phone use, hands-free or not, simply due to the distraction level. This is kind of silly since there are certainly more distractions for drivers than just using a hands-free phone.
When my youngest son earned his drivers license (age 16), we gave him permission to drive the family car to school a few days later. On the way to school (two miles), he rear-ended a State Farm insurance agent whose boyfriend is a lawyer! He was distracted by his teenager passengers fighting over the radio. California now has a "no passenger" law for new teen drivers. This is a good law.
Several years ago, I was following a car. The driver seemed to be very distracted by a disruptive child in the back seat. He kept turning around, yelling at him, and trying to grab him as he slid from side to side successfully avoiding a one-arm capture. A few minutes later, I see a belt being randomly whipped at the kid; the driver (assumed to be the father) running off of the road and nearly killing both of them. Disruptive kids are always a distraction when you drive, but it is always best to pull off of the road before attempting any corporal punishment.
Studies have shown that even music in the car can affect driving, with classical music having a calming effect (hopefully not to the point of falling asleep) to hard rock music having an opposite effect - speeding. I have even seen people arm dancing in cars and a few air guitars. Should we ban radios and stereos? I would be first to vote against those eardrum-bursting bass speakers!
I enjoy music, but not at work. I absolutely hate music on-hold. One medical assistant likes to program the speaker phones at the nursing station so music is playing. If I can hear it, it is terribly distracting. After repeated attempts to have her turn if off, she would do it over and over again. She told me that it was "her right" to listen to music. To make a long story short, I made sure she exercised her right to work somewhere else. I am not going to even talk about over-hearing "girl talk" - the conversations that are constantly going on at the nurse's station. I close my door.
What about distracting eating? There is nothing more distracting about plopping a juicy burrito on your clean shirt to affect driving. Safe foods might include chicken nuggets (without the sauce), or drinks (with a straw). If you don't have to take your eyes off of the road or worry about spillage, it is certainly safer. Accident-waiting-to-happen foods include anything scalding hot that you might hold between your legs. Ouch. Parents always bring food to doctor's visits so their kids can eat while they wait. I find the smell of McDonald french fries distracting, especially when I am hungry.
"Would you mind putting away those fries? Gimme a few first..."
I tend to eat at my desk so I can make phone calls or finish up charts, even though I have to shake the crumbs out of my keyboard periodically. Unless I close my door, I will experience distracting interruptions, perhaps starting with, "I know you are eating lunch, but a patient just walked in the door..." I have started leaving work for 15 minutes so I can find a quiet place to eat my lunch; a task that is becoming more and more impossible.
Another medical provider created a kitchen of sorts in his office - microwave, refrigerator, coffee-maker, etc. One day, he dropped a hot bowl of soup on his CRT computer monitor and keyboard. I am sure the smoke and sparks were a bit distracting, as well as cleaning up all of those noodles. He deserved it. I was getting damn tired of smelling his burnt popcorn wafting through the halls.
Other medical provider distractions include patients taking cell phone calls during a visit, kids playing loud video games, and unsupervised kids digging around in the drawers or pounding on my work computer. I even had a mother this week text-messaging WHILE I was talking to her! Unintentional (and expected) distractions include babies who decide that this would be a great time to take a steamy, eye-watering bowel movement. Our examination rooms have the worst ventilation, too. Medical providers always have to watch those crafty Dads. They are the most likely ones to hide a poopy diaper in the trash receptacle and not say anything. I am pretty tolerant of most human smells, like bad breath, B.O, and adolescent feet, but those smells can definitely be distracting. I am also not a big fan of over-perfumed people.
Maybe it's me? I seemed to be distracted by all kinds of sights, sounds, actions, and smells. Maybe I need a different line of work?
Related Topics:
Labels: distractions, focus
