Radiofrequency field surveys in hospitals.

The authors surveyed levels of radiofrequency (RF) fields in the frequency range 0.1-1,000 MHz in four hospitals in the Philadelphia area, to obtain background information related to the possible interference of radiofrequency fields with medical equipment. Two large center-city hospitals, a regional county hospital, and two suburban hospitals were surveyed. Measurements were made at six to 12 sites in each hospital, in each of the three frequency bands. More limited additional measurements were conducted in a fifth hospital as well. Sites were selected to include areas where strong RF signals from transmitting antennas might be expected to be present (e.g., locations close to windows in upper stories of buildings near paging antennas) as well as other representative sites in the hospital. The median RF field strengths were quite low (0.1-0.5 V/m), but at specific locations the RF signals from broadcast sources exceeded 1 V/m. Much stronger fields were recorded close to electrosurgical units and hand-held transmitters (cellular telephones and UHF transceivers).

Team care: an analysis of verbal behavior during patient rounds in a rehabilitation hospital.

Patient rounds are an important aspect of multidisciplinary team care. Team perceptions of ideally functioning rounds were compared with the actual communication patterns in rounds in a physical rehabilitation hospital. Perceptions of the patients' needs in the content areas of physical, psychosocial, and support systems were also compared with the actual distribution of content in rounds. Physicians spoke more (41%) and made more authoritative statements (62%) than did staff from any other discipline. The physicians participated far more than was perceived as ideal in all areas but the physical. Patients contributed only 9% of the discussion and less than 1% of authoritative statements. The physical content area was overemphasized (65%) and the psychosocial area was underemphasized (14%) when compared with the perceived needs of the patients. Interpretations of these findings and implications for investigation of the impact of team care are discussed.