Interruption science

[10] The first formal investigation into interruptions was conducted by Zeigarnik and Ovsiankina as part of the Vygotsky Circle in the 1920s.

In the 1940s, Fitts and Jones reported that interruptions were a cause of pilot errors and flying accidents, and made recommendations on reducing these disruptive effects.

[11] Office workers face a number of interruptions due to information technologies such as e-mail, text messages, and phone calls.

One line of research in interruption science examines the disruptive effects of these technologies and how to improve the usability and design of such devices.

[12] Mark conducted a study on office workers, which revealed that "each employee spent only 11 minutes on any given project before being interrupted".

[14] One of the major challenges associated with increased reliance on information technologies is they will send users notifications, without considering current task demands.

Hence, it may be worthwhile for health care organizations to craft effective cellphone usage policies to maximize technological benefits and minimize unnecessary distraction associated with smartphone use.