Shorter Resident Work Shifts Unexpectedly Associated with More Medical Errors

By Joe Elia

Edited by André Sofair, MD, MPH, and William E. Chavey, MD, MS

Residents on 16-hours-or-less schedules made more serious medical errors than those working shifts spanning 24 hours or more, according to a New England Journal of Medicine report.

Some 330 second-year-and-above pediatric residents doing rotations in intensive care units at six hospitals across the U.S. were randomized to work schedules comprising either the traditional 24 hours or longer (the control group) or 16 hours or less (the intervention).

During 8 months' observation, the intervention group committed more serious medical errors than the control group (97 vs. 79 per 1000 patient-days).

The researchers call the findings "contrary to [their] hypothesis."

Dr. F. Bruder Stapleton, editor-in-chief of NEJM Journal Watch Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, takes a closer look at these findings at the first link below. Have a look.