Resident Physician Extended Work Hours and Burnout

18 Jun Resident Physician Extended Work Hours and Burnout

Recently published in the Journal of sleep was an editorial commenting on resident physician extended work hours and burnout. In 2003 a cap was applied to the hours of a work week of 80hrs, then in 2009 a second cap was applied to the lengths of shifts residents could work; 16hrs. In July 2017 this second daily shift cap of 16hrs was removed. The authors make a few points to oppose this removal of a 16hr shift maximum:

• 74% of physicians experience burnout in the first 2 years of resident training
• High work demands likely to reduce sleep, and lead to burnout
• Less work hours will lead to higher workloads during the shorter shifts
• Less work hours decreases burnout
• Less work hours and increased workloads does not decrease quality of care
• Less work hours does not decrease the opportunity to learn
• Flexi work hours may help decrease burnout, but it is unclear
• Untreated burnout can lead to substance abuse, depression and higher rate of physician turnover.

Reference:

Andrew W McHill, Charles A Czeisler, Steven A Shea; Resident physician extended work hours and burnout, Sleep, , zsy112, https://doi.org/10.1093/sleep/zsy112