Experiences of Health Care Professionals Working Extra Weekends to Reduce COVID-19-Related Surgical Backlog: Cross-sectional Study

Clyde Matava; Jeannette P So; Alomgir Hossain; Simon Kelley

doi:10.2196/40209

Experiences of Health Care Professionals Working Extra Weekends to Reduce COVID-19-Related Surgical Backlog: Cross-sectional Study

JMIR Perioper Med. 2022 Dec 6;5(1):e40209. doi: 10.2196/40209.

Authors

Clyde Matava¹, Jeannette P So², Alomgir Hossain³, Simon Kelley⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Anesthesia and Pain Medicine, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON, Canada.
² Perioperative Services, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON, Canada.
³ Clinical Research Services, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON, Canada.
⁴ Division of Orthopaedics, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON, Canada.

PMID: 36423322
PMCID: PMC9746672
DOI: 10.2196/40209

Abstract

Background: During the quiescent periods of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, we implemented a weekend-scheduled pediatric surgery program to reduce COVID-19-related backlogs. Over 100 staff members from anesthesiologists to nurses, surgeons, and administrative and supporting personnel signed up to work extra weekends as part of a novel weekend elective pediatric surgery program to reduce COVID-19-related backlog: Operating Room Ramp-Up After COVID-19 Lockdown Ends-Extra Lists (ORRACLE-Xtra).

Objective: In this study, we sought to evaluate staff perceptions and their level of satisfaction and experiences with working extra scheduled weekend elective surgical cases at the end of the 3-month pilot phase of ORRACLE-Xtra and identify key factors for participation.

Methods: Following the pilot of ORRACLE-Xtra, all perioperative staff who worked at least 1 weekend list were invited to complete an online survey that was developed and tested prior to distribution. The survey collected information on the impact of working weekends on well-being, overall satisfaction, and likelihood of and preferences for working future weekend lists. Logistic regression was used to estimate the association of well-being with satisfaction and willingness to work future weekend lists.

Results: A total of 82 out of 118 eligible staff responded to the survey for a response rate of 69%. Staff worked a median of 2 weekend lists (IQR 1-9). Of 82 staff members, 65 (79%) were satisfied or very satisfied with working the extra weekend elective lists, with surgeons and surgical trainees reporting the highest levels of satisfaction. Most respondents (72/82, 88%) would continue working weekend lists. A sense of accomplishment was associated with satisfaction with working on the weekend (odds ratio [OR] 19.97, 95% CI 1.79-222.63; P=.02) and willingness to participate in future weekend lists (OR 17.74, 95% CI 1.50-200.70; P=.02). Many (56/82, 68%) were willing to work weekend lists that included longer, more complex cases, which was associated with a sense of community (OR 0.12, 95% CI 0.02-0.63; P=.01).

Conclusions: Staff participating in the first 3 months of the ORRACLE-Xtra program reported satisfaction with working weekends and a willingness to continue with the program, including doing longer, more complex cases. Institutions planning on implementing COVID-19 surgical backlog work may benefit from gathering key information from their staff.

Keywords: COVID-19; anesthesiologist; burnout; cross-sectional; health care; health care delivery; health care professional; health care provider; healthcare; nurse; nursing; occupational health; occupational safety; online survey; patient safety; patient satisfaction; pediatric; perception; perioperative; practice redesign; preoperative; quality improvement; staff; staff perception; stress; surgeon; surgery; surgical staff; wait-list; work; workforce; workload.

©Clyde Matava, Jeannette P So, Alomgir Hossain, Simon Kelley. Originally published in JMIR Perioperative Medicine (http://periop.jmir.org), 06.12.2022.