Title

The current State of the acute care surgery workforce: A boots on the ground perspective

Authors

Vijaya T. Daniel, University of Massachusetts Medical SchoolFollow
M. Didem Ayturk, University of Massachusetts Medical SchoolFollow
Catarina I. Kiefe, University of Massachusetts Medical SchoolFollow
Heena P. Santry, Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center

UMMS Affiliation

Department of Surgery; Department of Quantitative Health Sciences

Publication Date

2018-09-08

Document Type

Article

Disciplines

Critical Care | Emergency Medicine | Health and Medical Administration | Health Services Research | Surgery

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Acute care surgery (ACS) was proposed to address a general surgery workforce crisis; however, the ACS workforce composition is unknown. A national survey was conducted to determine the differences in the emergency general surgery (EGS) workforce between ACS and non-ACS hospitals.

METHODS: The American Hospital Association (AHA) Annual Survey of Hospitals database was queried to identify acute care general hospitals. A hybrid mail/electronic survey was sent to 2811 acute care hospitals that met the inclusion criteria of hospitals that care for adult patients ( > /=18 years old) with an emergency room (ER), > /= 1 operating room (OR), and 24-h ER access. Hospitals were queried on whether they utilized an ACS model. The workforce composition among ACS and non-ACS hospitals was evaluated using X(2) tests, t tests, and Wilcoxon rank-sum tests.

RESULTS: Survey response was 60% (N=1690). ACS hospitals had a higher proportion of emergency surgeons who were female (20% vs. 14%, p < 0.0001), newly-trained (17% vs 10%, p < 0.0001), critical care trained (78% vs. 31%, p < 0.0001), and who had an additional degree (35% vs. 13%, p < 0.0001). More ACS hospitals had 24/7 in-house OR nursing staff (72% vs. 15%, p < 0.0001) and ancillary staff.

CONCLUSIONS: ACS and non-ACS hospitals differ in their surgical workforce. It is clear that ACS hospitals have more human capital, which suggests that ACS hospitals may require more dedicated resources compared to non-ACS hospitals.

DOI of Published Version

10.1016/j.amjsurg.2018.08.023

Source

Am J Surg. 2018 Sep 8. pii: S0002-9610(18)30132-6. doi: 10.1016/j.amjsurg.2018.08.023. [Epub ahead of print] Link to article on publisher's site

Journal/Book/Conference Title

American journal of surgery

PubMed ID

30224074

Related Resources

Link to Article in PubMed

Repository Citation

Daniel VT, Ayturk MD, Kiefe CI, Santry HP. (2018). The current State of the acute care surgery workforce: A boots on the ground perspective. Population and Quantitative Health Sciences Publications. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amjsurg.2018.08.023. Retrieved from https://escholarship.umassmed.edu/qhs_pp/1218