Post by Logan on Mar 18, 2017 0:53:16 GMT -6
First-Year Medical Residents Will Now Be Able To Work 28-Hours Straight
First-year hospital residents who have just graduated medical school will now be able to work 28-hours during a shift. The possible length of a shift was previously capped at 16-hours.
The new time limit, which will go into effect on July 1st, was set by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education last Friday. The organization says the increase in shift length will reduce the number of problematic patient handoffs. This is when one doctor hands off a patient in the midst care to another doctor when their shift is over. Accreditation officials say this practice can be confusing and disruptive for both patients and doctors.
Art Caplan, a medical ethicist and director of the Division of Medical Ethics at NYU Langone Medical Center, was troubled by the increase in the shift cap and the issues that could be caused by sleep deprivation.
“Lack of sleep produces errors,” Caplan told Boston Public Radio Tuesday. “The science says that this isn’t a good idea. The evidence says that people do slip in performance."
Read more: news.wgbh.org/2017/03/14/first-year-medical-residents-will-now-be-able-work-28-hours-straight
First-year hospital residents who have just graduated medical school will now be able to work 28-hours during a shift. The possible length of a shift was previously capped at 16-hours.
The new time limit, which will go into effect on July 1st, was set by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education last Friday. The organization says the increase in shift length will reduce the number of problematic patient handoffs. This is when one doctor hands off a patient in the midst care to another doctor when their shift is over. Accreditation officials say this practice can be confusing and disruptive for both patients and doctors.
Art Caplan, a medical ethicist and director of the Division of Medical Ethics at NYU Langone Medical Center, was troubled by the increase in the shift cap and the issues that could be caused by sleep deprivation.
“Lack of sleep produces errors,” Caplan told Boston Public Radio Tuesday. “The science says that this isn’t a good idea. The evidence says that people do slip in performance."
Read more: news.wgbh.org/2017/03/14/first-year-medical-residents-will-now-be-able-work-28-hours-straight