Out of curiosity, I went looking for medical error rates from before the max shift lengths were decreased a few years ago and, compared to now. The study I foun

Out of curiosity, I went looking for medical error rates from before the max shift lengths were decreased a few years ago and, compared to now. The study I found on it concluded that error rates did not meaningfully change, even though the residents were theoretically better rested. Upon further examination, they found that error rates due to fatigue had decreased, but that error rates related to patient handoffs had increased by a similar amount. The long shifts, while being a source of fatigue, did provide for good continuity of care, as the same doctor handled the case for longer. Once the study team started addressing some of the problems in handoffs, such as going through the patients alphabetically instead of by severity, they began to see the error rates decrease.