Improving ER clinician schedules to reduce burnout and improve care
Redesigning Emergency Department Clinician Shift Scheduling to Improve Well-being and Patient Outcomes (EDSHIFT)
This project will try out redesigned emergency department shift schedules to help doctors and nurses feel less burned out and to improve patient safety and flow.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R21 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Clemson University NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Clemson, United States) |
| Project ID | NIH-11196056 on NIH RePORTER |
What this research studies
If you go to a participating emergency department, researchers will collect information on clinician sleep, stress, and work preferences and interview staff about scheduling challenges. They will combine those interviews with mathematical models that balance clinician needs, patient flow, safety, and staffing constraints to create new shift patterns. The redesigned schedules will be piloted in the ED and researchers will track clinician well-being along with metrics like handoffs, wait times, and safety events. Your routine care and outcomes may be monitored through hospital records during the pilot without extra visits.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: Patients who receive care at emergency departments participating in the pilot—especially those with longer stays or admissions—would be the most likely to have their care and outcomes monitored.
Not a fit: Patients treated at hospitals not participating in the project or whose care happens entirely outside the ED are unlikely to be affected.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: Could lead to more rested, attentive clinicians, fewer handoff errors, shorter waits, and safer, more reliable emergency care.
How similar studies have performed: Previous work links better schedules to reduced clinician burnout, but combining staff interviews with mathematical scheduling models and piloting them across an ED is a relatively new approach.
Where this research is happening
Clemson, United States
- Clemson University — Clemson, United States (Active)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Taaffe, Kevin Michael — Clemson University
- Study coordinator: Taaffe, Kevin Michael
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page below.