Fatigue in the Medical Field

PEORIA — Traditionally viewed as a baptism by fire for future physicians, a new report said the lengthy, grueling schedules of medical residents may be hurting patients and doctors-to-be - instead of helping them...

...To trim the number of fatigue-related mistakes, the 480-page report recommended residents working the maximum 30-hour shift should have a five-hour break for sleep. Moreover, it stated shift changes at hospitals should overlap to allow for a smooth transition between residents, and doctors-in-training should be prohibited from moonlighting at other jobs.

"This is not a trivial issue," said Dr. Thomas Santoro, associate dean for graduate medical education at the University of Illinois College of Medicine at Peoria, which administers 10 residency programs. "A fatigued physician is not practicing optimal medicine..."

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They print this report like it is going to be some kind of epiphany. Isn't this pure common sense? Standards have changed for truck drivers and airline pilots, yet the medical profession refuses to change.

Consider that you or your loved one might be rushed into surgery or some other medical procedure, to be performed by someone who has been working on the job for 28-hours. Would you allow this to happen?

This isn't unique to residents and medical students though. It happens with RNs and prehospital providers. As a paramedic, I can attest to the grueling pace that our employers task us with. There is never enough staff to go around and/or the budget won't allow for a different schedule. Just yesterday in a 12-hour shift my partner and I drove a patient 200 miles (one way) to their residence, was asked on the way back to take a patient to a VA hospital which was another 150 miles away after we got back to town to pick him up. I was so tired of driving, that when we got back from the trips and while waiting at a stop light to turn left, I saw a light change on the stop light and assumed it was our green light (I was watching a couple of cars across the street that looked like they may have had a fender-bender)... Guess what, it wasn't our light and I pulled into the intersection to make my turn before I realized that our light was still red. It seems trivial, I know, but considering that we're entrusted with some of the most powerful medications in the world and/or tasked with advanced life saving techniques and skills, it would seem natural that our industry would better police the stress, fatigue and pace at which people in the medical field are subjected to.

Next time you're in the hospital and you or your loved one has to be worked on, be consciences and inquire about the physician who will be treating and ask them about how long they've been working without sleep or food. Why wouldn't you? When you buy an automobile, you try to get as much information and history about your purchase. This is no different! You're the consumer purchasing medical expertise and treatment - at least you're the consumer until Obama's regime takes over and socializes medicine.