“Black cloud” vs. “white cloud” physicians – Myth or reality in apheresis medicine?

Abstract

The results of this pilot study may support the common perception that some physicians or nurses are either "black cloud" or "white cloud". A larger, multi-center study population is needed to validate the results of this pilot study.

Debunking superstition: Analyzing the cloud phenomenon in apheresis—Results of a 35‐month study

“…In conclusion, unlike the results obtained in the pilot study, the findings from this prospective 35‐month confirmation study did not support the common perception that physicians or nurses maybe either “black clouds” or “white clouds.” Additionally, there was no statistically significant association between “black‐cloud” events and the year, day of the week, month, or season.…”

“…Other parameters collected include the treating physician, apheresis nurse, type of emergent apheresis procedure, and day of the week, month, and season as determined by the astronomical calendar. The details of this follow‐up study were similar to the pilot study published previously . As the data were count data and that the goal is to test the occurrence of the “black‐cloud” events between different groups, Chi‐square analysis was performed.…”

“…It is unclear if the designation is only superstition, or if there is some merit, which may be suggested by our 1-year pilot study in apheresis service. 3 We now report the result of the 35-month follow up, prospective study to objectively assess this phenomenon in apheresis medicine at a busy therapeutic apheresis center in the United States, performing more than 2500 procedures annually.…”

“…It is unclear if the designation is only superstition, or if there is some merit, which may be suggested by our 1-year pilot study in apheresis service. 3 We now report the result of the 35-month follow up, prospective study to objectively assess this phenomenon in apheresis medicine at a busy therapeutic apheresis center in the United States, performing more than 2500 procedures annually.A 35-month prospective study from December 1, 2014 to October 31, 2017 was designed to evaluate the number of times apheresis staff were involved with emergent therapeutic apheresis procedures at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (Birmingham, AL) in the off hours between 10 PM and 7 AM, since this is the time period when significant resources and coordination from multiple teams in the night/evening hours for multiple services, from the blood bank, to interventional radiology, to the intensive care unit, which are already operated under staff constraints have to be mobilized in order to perform the procedure. The completion of the procedure is defined as when the machine is disconnected from the patient and the procedure is deemed completed (or aborted with permission from the apheresis physician) by the apheresis nurse in the electronic medical record.…”

A Descriptive Study of Musculoskeletal Injuries in Long-Haul Truck Drivers: A NIOSH National Survey

“…Although association rules were initially developed for consumer market–based analysis, these rules are often successfully applied to other research areas, including health care. For example, Ivancevic et al (2015) identified risk factors associated with early childhood caries, Pham, Raju, Jiang, and Williams (2016) assessed the black-cloud versus white-cloud phenomenon in apheresis medicine, and Kost, Littenberg, and Chen (2012) demonstrated disease specific co-occurrences using Association Rules.…”