Patient Safety: Sleep Deprived Doctors Making Mistakes

Dangers of Deprivation

The Canadian Medical Association Journal has published an editorial that suggests that sleep deprivation in doctors is endangering patient safety.

According to the authors of the editorial, Drs. Noni MacDonald, Paul Hébert, Ken Flegel and Matthew Stanbrook: “The problem may only be getting worse…”

Last year, researchers reported higher rates of surgical complications if a surgeon had less than six hours of sleep the night before.

Doctors Partly to Blame?

“We doctors ourselves are part of this problem…We need to shift our professional culture. Long periods on call should not be accepted as routine or a source of pride. Instead, we must admit that working while impaired from sleep deprivation is neither normal nor acceptable.”

What Do You Think?

Does Doc + Sleepy = Dopey (or danger)?

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