Zagreus Ammon with a somewhat different take:
I don’t think working forty eight hours straight is the problem. More likely the fact that those 48 hours have become as grueling and punishing as an ultra-marathon. The fact is that medical interventions have become much more intense than ever before and no patient lounges around the hospital waiting to get better. The cost-containment pressures on the health care system have made the job insane. I would rather residents spent the hours, but sharply reduced the number of patients they followed. At least they would realize some of the original benefits of spending long hours in the hospital.
Related posts:
- Resident work hours and sign-out
- Restricting resident work hours leads to a shortage of surgeons
- Doctors lose a part of their training when resident work-hours are capped
- Restricting resident work hours forces doctors to lie, and other unintended consequences of the 80-hour work week
- Poll: Is further reducing resident work hours worth the cost?
- Surgeons don’t receive enough training when resident work-hours are capped
- The consequences of limiting resident work-hours
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