Long Hours For Doctors Risky

Studies have been done with truck drivers and other professions surrounding the risks of too much work and too little sleep. In response to the results of such surveys, the Federal government has placed dramatic limitations on how long truck drivers can continuously drive. This legislation was done to make sure the roads were safe from sleepy truckers trying to run the long haul. Truck drivers now must log their driving time and prove to police that they did not drive beyond the limit. No truck driver is exempt from this limitation, not even inexperienced truck drivers. Unlike another profession... Medical Doctors.

The internship for medical doctors is another story, and one that has finally received a study on the effects of long working hours and little sleep.

http://health.dailynewscentral.com/content/view/0001594/51/

This study compared performance levels of these interns during their intensive month long 90 hour per week schedules in hospital wards and intensive care units, plus overnight shifts every four to five days, with their 45 hour per week office clinic schedules. The study also compared the lack of sleep effect of working long hours versus alcohol consumption.

The result? Sleep deprivation "significantly impairs their ability to perform." What's worse is that they rated their effort to work and sleepiness levels much higher after their heavy work shifts than after their light-call shifts, even after consuming the alcohol.

After this study, work limitations were put in place for medical doctor interns with the maximum of 80 hours per week and a 24-hour limit on continuous duty. However, J. Todd Arnedt, one of the study's authors believes that simply limiting work hours will not solve the problem. He believes that other strategies need to be in place for "reducing fatigue-related impairments."

Maybe medical schools should be held responsible for scheduling interns with more time to successfully get their bodies in gear to sleep and then make sure they are able to sleep at least six hours at a time with sufficient REM sleep (hopefully, without drugs). Maybe part of medical school should be to teach effective (non-drug) relaxation techniques so they can get the sleep they need, regardless of all the information, experiences and thoughts that likely are running through an intern's head at the "end of the day."

Let's go back to the truck driver for a moment. Here's the laws for the truck driver: The USDOT's "Hours of Service" regulation mandates maximum driving and minimum resting periods. Under the "10-hour" rule, a driver who accumulates 10 hours in driving status can not drive again until he or she has accumulated eight consecutive hours in "off duty" or "sleeper berth" status. Under the "15 hour" rule, a driver who accumulates 10 hours in "driving" status can work an additional five hours in an "on duty/not driving" status. However, the driver can not drive again until the driver accumulates eight consecutive hours in "off duty" or "sleeper berth" status.

Why can't we have the same type of laws for all medical doctors? I would prefer to have an alert doctor diagnosing and performing surgery at the best of their abilities to help save my life, instead of an overworked doctor who, even if he/she tried, might not be able to focus well enough to diagnose or treat the patient because they are too exhausted.

The Federal government has recognized that truck drivers are not super humans, they need to realize that doctors are not super humans either and make sure they are not overworked and risking the lives of their patients due to some controling institution that believes that overworking doctors makes them better, while studies prove otherwise.

Maybe then there will be less malpractice and then, maybe health insurance might not be so expensive because laws have lessened the errors previously caused by poor performance and the exhausted efforts of overworked doctors.