2010 Survey on cell phone use while performing cardiopulmonary bypass.
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Date
2011-09-08
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Abstract
Cell phone use in the U S has increased dramatically over the past decade and text messaging among adults is now mainstream In professions such as perfusion where clinical vigilance is essential to patient care the potential distraction of cell phones may be especially problematic However the extent of this as an issue is currently unknown Therefore the purpose of this study was to 1 determine the frequency of cell phone use in the perfusion community and 2 to identify concerns and opinions among perfusionists regarding cell phone use In October 2010 a link to a 19 question survey surveymonkey com was posted on the AmSECT PerfList and Perfusion com PerfMail forums There were 439 respondents Demographic distribution is as follows Chief Perfusionist 30 5 Staff Perfusionist 62 0 and Other 7 5 with age ranges of 20 30 years 14 2 30 40 years 26 5 40 50 years 26 7 50 60 years 26 7 60 years 5 9 The use of a cell phone during the performance of cardiopulmonary bypass CPB was reported by 55 6 of perfusionists Sending text messages while performing CPB was acknowledged by 49 2 with clear generational differences detected when cross referenced with age groups For smart phone features perfusionists report having accessed e mail 21 used the internet 15 1 or have checked posted on social networking sites 3 1 while performing CPB Safety concerns were expressed by 78 3 who believe that cell phones can introduce a potentially significant safety risk to patients Speaking on a cell phone and text messaging during CPB are regarded as always an unsafe practice by 42 3 and 51 7 of respondents respectively Personal distraction by cell phone use that negatively affected performance was admitted by 7 3 whereas witnessing another perfusionist distracted with phone text while on CPB was acknowledged by 33 7 of respondents This survey suggests that the majority of perfusionists believe cell phones raise significant safety issues while operating the heart lung machine However the majority also have used a cell phone while performing this activity There are clear generational differences in opinions on the role and or appropriateness of cell phones during bypass There is a need to further study this issue and perhaps to establish consensus on the use of various communication modes within the perfusion community