[Labor status of anesthesia in general hospitals in Japan Committee on Human Resources, the Japan Society of Anesthesiology].

AIMS

Investigating the labor by anesthetists in general hospitals with more than 600 beds during the month of September 1995.

METHOD

Using MS/EXCEL spread sheet soft wear, we have analyzed daily OR anesthesia activities in 33 hospitals based on personal attendance of anesthesiologists. We defined anesthesia performing hours i.e. actual working hours as the time between the onset and the end of anesthesia for each anesthetist.

RESULTS

An average number of monthly anesthesia cases was 961 in the first 10 hospitals we surveyed. We obtained two frequency graphs on weekly 5-day working 138 anesthetists whose anesthesia performed, and their occupied hours were as shown in fig. 1 and 2. for those who worked other less than 5 days per week, they showed the shorter hours on the frequency distribution graph as shown in fig. 3 to 7. The 5-day working anesthetists have spent more than 5 hours giving anesthesia in the 93.2% of all anesthesia times in the first 10 hospitals, while 28.1% of the times in the last 10 hospitals. There were an average of 11.6 operating tables, in the first 10 hospitals. And we have analyzed ratios of the number of 5 day working persons to the number of operating tables. The ratio was 0.86 in the first 10 hospitals, while 0.21 in the last 10 hospitals.

CONCLUSIONS

There must be overwork of 5-day working anesthetists, who are working for too many hours for anesthesia. It is necessary to have better quality service in the OR.