Are You Paying Attention? Related Guidance on How Concepts of Attention May Inform Effective Time Sharing of Tasks in Emergency Medicine: In reply

摘要

We thank Ms. Benda and Dr. Fairbanks for their interest in our work. The provision of safe, efficient patient care in the emergency department (ED) depends on high-quality task completion and task-switching skills. In their letter, the respondents discuss the complexity and breadth of factors that influence task completion and recall in the ED, using the framework of attention. This serves to further highlight the need to look to the cognitive and behavioral sciences for insight into and solutions for this complex problem. The concept of attention as it applies to efficient task switching is indeed important. This must be discussed in the framework of working memory and cognitive load because attention and working-memory capacity are interrelated, if not inextricably linked. 1ED tasks can have similarity, interruptions cannot always be predicted, and there is variability in the type and import of both primary and secondary tasks. Attention affects the function and capacity of working memory in this rapidly changing environment.