Study of the Conditions Surrounding Fatigue That Are Common to Medical Professionals Working in Emergency and Critical Care Centers in Japan

Natsuko Makino

doi:10.4236/health.2020.121003

Abstract

This study aimed to clarify the conditions surrounding fatigue that are common to medical professionals working in emergency and critical care centers in Japan. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight professionals ranging from doctors, nurses and pharmacists to clinical engineering technologists and radiation technologists. Their narratives were analyzed using the qualitative descriptive approach to determine fatigue common to all professionals and the reasons behind it. The five categories that emerged as the reasons for fatigue common to the subjects were [playing one’s role in treatment and procedures for emergency and critical patients], [accommodating the patient’s background and coming to terms with the outcome], [difficulties in liaising with other professionals], [feeling pressure as a responsible professional in emergency care] and [loss of sense of time caused by variable working hours]. The results revealed that fatigue common to all of the subjects was related to dealing with patients, coordinating with other professionals, having professional responsibilities and the working environment. This study suggests that arrangements to improve the working environment, ensure adequate staffing, and provide mental health support for the well-being of medical professionals working in emergency and critical care centers are necessary.

Highlights

This study aimed to clarify the conditions surrounding fatigue that are common to medical professionals working in emergency and critical care centers in Japan
This study aimed to clarify the conditions of fatigue common to medical professionals working in emergency and critical care centers in Japan
The doctors, nurse, and pharmacist worked at the emergency and critical care center full-time, while the clinical engineers and radiological technologists worked for another department in addition to the emergency and critical care center

Summary

Introduction

Makino length of hospital stays will decrease and the severity of patients’ symptoms will increase throughout hospitals While patients and their families seek safe and reassuring care, an increase in workload as medicine advances in sophistication and complexity is resulting in fatigue in medical professional in clinical practice settings, and the ideal state of medicine itself is being called into question. Multidisciplinary cooperation is based on the premise of a diverse range of highly specialized medical professionals who share goals and information, divide duties, and collaborate and support each other in order to provide medical care that accurately meets patients’ specific needs [1]. The nature of emergency care causes burnout and early job turnover in medical staff and there is difficulty securing members to provide smooth team-based medical care [3]

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Results

Discussion

Conclusion