Of organization, device and context: Interruptions from mobile communication in highly specialized care

Abstract

This paper presents an ethnographic study of mobile communication at a surgical unit in Sweden involved with highly specialized care for the upper abdomen. The primary focus of the study is interruptions related to usage of mobile communication, with the goal of informing the design of systems that better balance interruptions and availability. The department uses a patchwork of hospital pagers, personal cell phones, and department provided cell phones. Issues related to social factors at the department, technical features of mobile communication devices, and specific contexts where interruptions were identified to be a problem are presented. Some of the salient findings of the study include a generally complex situation with respect to interruptions that is impacted by technical, social and individual factors related to mobile communication, challenges related to managing personal and private communication on the same device, issues related to supporting distributed work in highly specialized care and how this contributes to interruptions, and a more in depth overview of specific contexts where interruptions are problematic than previous studies. Some theoretical perspectives on these issues are presented as well as implications for design.

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