Residents' attitudes toward a smartphone policy for inpatient attending rounds

Despite the many benefits of smartphones for physicians, there are also potential downsides to utilizing these devices in the patient care setting. Prior research at our hospital found that smartphone use during inpatient attending rounds can distract faculty and residents, and nearly 80% of attendings favored the institution of codes of conduct governing appropriate use of smartphones during rounds. Based on these findings, a policy regulating faculty and resident smartphone use was instituted in February 2012 in the Departments of Medicine and Pediatrics at our hospital. Although our faculty’s enthusiasm for the smartphone policy was clear, residents’ attitudes toward this new regulation were unknown. Born in the 1980s, today’s residents are members of the millennial generation, who seamlessly integrate technology into their lives. Millennials generally do not perceive their multitasking with technology to be rude or distracting. Having grown up with the Internet, they employ digital tools as an inherent “sixth sense,” and view their use of technology as the defining characteristic of their generation. Housestaff feedback was instrumental in shaping the specifics of the smartphone policy. However, given the primacy of technology in the life of the millennial, it is plausible that residents would resent restrictions on their smartphone use. Such resentment could limit a policy’s effectiveness, as well as negatively impact resident morale. With increasing discussion about the need to manage personal electronic device use in the patient care setting, we sought to assess residents’ attitudes toward our hospital’s smartphone policy.