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The argument I've heard is also in the article, "the change will enhance patient safety because there will be fewer handoffs from doctor to doctor." I've been
by pfranz 10y ago
The argument I've heard is also in the article, "the change will enhance patient safety because there will be fewer handoffs from doctor to doctor." I've been told studies have shown this--of course there's a limit. I thought that limit was 16 hours (the previous max listed in the article). I'm sure handoff procedures also affect this. When our first son was born the nurses would come in and verbally handoff in front of my wife so she could clarify and confirm things (unless something critical was happening). You could see the nurses scribbled notes before handoff and they were diligent in recording things in their computer system.
On the business side, are doctor's paid hourly? I imagine having fewer doctors paid overtime would be cheaper overall. At least in other professions after 12 hours they get paid double-time.
- aanm1988 10y agoYeah, this is a stupid excuse. If handoffs are a problem don't make doctors work more, figure out a better handoff system.
- mattkrause 10y agoThe handoff stuff is at least fixable in principle, whereas sleep deprivation is...not (at least not sustainably).
- maxerickson 10y agoWe don't especially know what purpose sleep serves. It's possible someone will figure it out and how to work around the need for it.
- cwt137 10y agoLots of doctors who are attendings get paid for what they bill. But this change is for doctors who are 1st year residents/ interns. They haven't graduated to being an attending yet. Residents do not have a medical license yet and must operate under the supervision of an attending. In theory, they are getting paid a salary to learn / sharpen their skills in their chosen specialty (ie family medicine, internal medicine, etc.). But in reality, they are more like low wage labor as 1 attending can supervise many residents.