The Gordon Wilson Lecture: Work Hours, Sleep and Patient Safety in Residency Training

Details

• Personal Author:
  Czeisler, Charles A. ; Ryan KC ; Safford HD ; Santoro AE ; Shearman TM ; Shumate AM ; Sieg CH ; Smith RJ ; Smith SL ; Stephenson NL ; Stevens JT ; Stoddard MT ; Stuever M ; Thies WG ; Vaillant NM ; Weiss SA ; Westlind DJ ; Woolley TJ ; Wright MC
• Description:
  The work schedules of physicians in training require them to work extraordinarily long work shifts and long work weeks. These schedules, which are based on a tradition that dates back to the 19th century, result in acute and chronic sleep deprivation. Sleep deprivation, misalignment of circadian phase and sleep inertia adversely impact cognitive performance and increase the risk of error and accident. Interns working extended duration shifts make significantly more serious medical errors while caring for patients in intensive care units, and make five times as many serious diagnostic mistakes. In addition to the deleterious effects of extended duration work shifts on patient safety, we also found that the risk of motor vehicle crashes is more than doubled driving home from work after such shifts. We conclude that the practice of working extended duration work shifts, which continues to be allowed by new ACGME regulations, are hazardous to both interns and their patients. Academic medical centers are urged to eliminate this now-dangerous tradition. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Accidents, Occupational Health Personnel Occupational Health Safety Sleep Sleep Initiation And Maintenance Disorders
• Keywords:
  Accidents Health Care Workers Medical Personnel Physicians Sleep Deprivation Work Intervals Work Schedules
• ISSN:
  0065-7778
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Massachusetts ; OSHA Region 1
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  159-188
• Volume:
  117
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20057833
• Citation:
  Trans Am Clin Climatol Assoc 2006 Feb; 117:159-188
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2006
• Performing Organization:
  Brigham and Women's Hospital
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Start Date:
  20010930
• Source Full Name:
  Transactions of the American Clinical and Climatological Association
• End Date:
  20060929
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:a152a4c733e5735adaab1fcdb9cde980fd8c861065fe972ef99873f35e97b612af54b8c0904742963b67e1f1abdb2540e274024e54ed4170f7a24ad330d6a112
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/215049/cdc_215049_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1009.08 KB ]