Do Anesthesiologists Need Down Time Following an Adverse Event?

A recent study in Anesthesia & Analgesia found that while 80 percent of anesthesiologists have been involved in an adverse event, and 70 percent experienced some sort of guilt or anxiety even if the event was unpreventable, most hospital and practices administrators do not encourage time off or “down time” after such an event for the physicians to debrief, according to a Somnia Anesthesia blog post.

In the study, 67 percent of anesthesiologists surveyed said they believed their work was compromised in the immediate hours after the adverse event.

Robert Farrar, MD, Somnia Anesthesia’s vice president of medical affairs, believes steps need to be taken by hospital and practice administrators to prevent anesthesiologist burnout and fatigue. “Besides being beneficial to the facility, use of the anesthesia care team model can be beneficial to the anesthesia care provider as well,” said Dr. Farrar. “The ability to have available ‘down time’ when there is a critical event is of incalculable advantage to the provider. Moreover, patients get better care since their provider is not preoccupied with other events.”

Do Anesthesiologists Need Down Time Following an Adverse Event?

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