Reform may be needed to reduce fatigue in healthcare professionals

Thursday, 23 June 2011 16:00

News - Employee Performance

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Doctors, nurses and medical technicians are often asked to work prolonged shifts in order to keep a sufficient and consistent staff in the emergency room. While the practice may work well for hospitals, it can cause intense fatigue and workplace stress for healthcare professionals.

As a result, experts at Harvard Medical School announced their recommendations for better working conditions in hospitals at a June conference.

Their suggestions included limiting shift length to 12 to 16 hours, implementation of systems to determine when a physician's workload is becoming excessive and providing mandatory supervision for critical care services.

The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education has agreed to shift limits, but not for senior residents because the organization believes that their levels of experience may outweigh detriments of fatigue. However, experts disagree.

"Extensive research has shown that experience does not overcome the need for sleep," said report co-author Charles Czeisler, Ph.D., M.D., chief of the Division of Sleep Medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston. "There is no justification for maintaining unsafe work hours, other than that they're a good deal for hospitals. But they endanger patients, and they even endanger residents."

Additionally, employee wellness programs that provide stress management techniques and information on healthy sleep habits may help to reduce workplace stress and fatigue in healthcare settings.