Night Work
Conditions
Keywords
night shift, apple, doctor, emergency department
Brief summary
Background: Emergency doctors face a highly stressful work environment during night shifts. Long-term night shift work can lead to sleep deprivation, fatigue accumulation, and disruption of the biological clock, which may affect doctors' work efficiency and physical and mental health. There are various health interventions for night shift doctors, one of which is an interesting practice of carrying an apple as a symbol of the night shift deity to relieve anxiety and improve work efficiency. Although this behavior is not supported by sufficient scientific evidence, it has become a common habit among some doctors during night shifts due to its simplicity, low risk, and ritualistic nature. Objective: To assess whether carrying an apple during night shifts can significantly reduce fatigue, decrease work intensity, and enhance work experience for emergency doctors. Design: Single-center, open-label, randomized controlled trial. Participants: several doctors with a total of 60 emergency working night shifts. Primary Outcome: Average number of patients per night shift. Sample Size: The study plans to recruit several doctors with a total of 60 emergency night shifts and randomly assign them to the experimental group and the control group. One doctor can be randomized for many times.
Detailed description
Background: Emergency doctors face a highly stressful work environment during night shifts. Long-term night shift work can lead to sleep deprivation, fatigue accumulation, and disruption of the biological clock, which may affect doctors' work efficiency and physical and mental health. There are various health interventions for night shift doctors, one of which is an interesting practice of carrying an apple as a symbol of the night shift deity to relieve anxiety and improve work efficiency. Although this behavior is not supported by sufficient scientific evidence, it has become a common habit among some doctors during night shifts due to its simplicity, low risk, and ritualistic nature. Objective: To assess whether carrying an apple during night shifts can significantly reduce fatigue, decrease work intensity, and enhance work experience for emergency doctors. Design: Single-center, open-label, randomized controlled trial. Participants: several doctors with a total of 60 emergency working night shifts. Primary Outcome: Average number of patients per night shift. Sample Size: The study plans to recruit several doctors with a total of 60 emergency night shifts and randomly assign them to the experimental group and the control group. One doctor can be randomized for many times.
Interventions
PROCEDUREapple group
Doctors will bring apples during night shift
PROCEDUREno apple group
No apples during night shift
Sponsors
Peking University Third Hospital
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
NONE
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
20 Years to 40 Years
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
Doctors who have a night shift in the emergency department of gynaecology with at least two weeks experience.
Exclusion criteria
Doctors who refuse to join the study
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| number of patients | from 5pm on the Randomization day to 8am on the next day | Number of patients during the night shift |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Emergency admissions | from 5pm on the Randomization day to 8am on the next day | Admissions of emergency patients during the night shift randomized. |
| Emergency surgery number | from 5pm on the Randomization day to 8am on the next day | Number of patients who experience emergency surgery during the night shift. |
| Emergency uterine evacuation number | from 5pm on the Randomization day to 8am on the next day | Number of patients who need emergency uterine evacuation during the night shift. |
| Evaluation of night shifts | from 5pm on the Randomization day to 8am on the next day | Overall evaluation of night shifts by doctors (Good, Average, Poor) |
| Doctor's break time | from 5pm on the Randomization day to 8am on the next day | The time (hours) of the doctor's break. |
| Number of patients admitted to emergency room | from 5pm on the Randomization day to 8am on the next day | The number of people who need to be admitted to the emergency room |
| Complicated patients number | from 5pm on the Randomization day to 8am on the next day | The number of patients needs to be checked by a senior doctor |
Contacts
Primary ContactKai-Lun Hu, MD
Outcome results
None listed