Regulations of Night Shifts of Pediatric Residents: Review of Responses to a European Survey

The regulation of residents' night shifts and weekly working hours increasingly is being questioned and investigated to better understand the benefits and harms. Studies on the effects of fatigue on function appeared in the media in the early 1970s in the US (Table  I; available at www.jpeds.com); one of the first studies demonstrated that interns “deprived of sleep were significantly less able to recognize arrhythmias on the electrocardiographic task” and “judged themselves to have abnormalities in cognitive, perceptual, and physiologic areas of funct ion.”5 A review of the current literature questions the effect of subsequent American changes in the night shift hours and weekly work hours of the residents.
Source: The Journal of Pediatrics - Category: Pediatrics Authors: Tags: European Paediatric Association Source Type: research