Doctor's In Training Responsible for Serious Medical Errors

Beth Janicek

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Sleepy interns working long shifts are responsible for one-third more serious mistakes than when working "short" 16 hour shifts. Their mistakes included prescribing overdoses to sticking a tube in the wrong vein. Interns were wired up with electrodes and ended up nodding off more than five times during long shifts.

"There are currently more than 100,000 physicians-in-training in the United States, most of whom work these kinds of 30-hour shifts on a regular basis," said Dr. Christopher P. Landrigan, who led the study on medical errors.

Since July of 2003, interns have been limited to a four-week average of 80 hours a week and cannot work with patients for more than 24 hours straight.

One of the interns who participated in the study said the downside to shorter shifts is he could not attend some teaching sessions and had fewer chances to do procedures he needed to learn.