Physician Coverage in the Pediatric Emergency Room: A National Survey

Pediatric emergency services are provided by most pediatric teaching hospitals in the United States. However, little information has been published regarding staffing patterns. The present study assessed the staffing of 155 such residency programs. While two thirds of the programs provide 24-hour on-site resident coverage in their pediatric emergency rooms, only 10% utilize attending pediatricians on a similar basis. Although coverage increases with increasing training-program size and emergency-room patient volume, the majority (79%) of even the largest residency programs do not provide 24-hour attending pediatrician coverage in the emergency room. Administrators of pediatric residency programs are urged to improve the staffing of their emergency rooms to include attending pediatricians on a 24-hour basis.