Skip Navigation
The Collection >
The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education's limits on residents' work hours and patient safety. Classic icon
Jagsi R, Weinstein DF, Shapiro J, Kitch BT, Dorer D, Weissman JS. Arch Intern Med. 2008;168:493-500. 

The patient safety effects of 2003 regulations reducing housestaff work hours have yet to be determined, although emerging evidence indicates that clinical outcomes have been unaffected. This survey queried residents before and after implementation of the work hour regulations regarding their experiences with medical errors, and found that self-reported errors did not decrease even when work hours were significantly reduced. This finding is similar to a previous study. Interestingly, despite considerable concern that reducing work hours would lead to increased discontinuity in patient care, residents did not feel that errors due to handoffs or cross-coverage increased after their work hours were reduced.

PubMed citation icon indicating hyperlink to external website
Free full text icon indicating hyperlink to external website
white box
Related Resources
STUDY
Effect of reducing interns' work hours on serious medical errors in intensive care units.
Landrigan CP, Rothschild JM, Cronin JW, et al. N Engl J Med. 2004;351:1838-1848.
STUDY
Effect of reducing interns' weekly work hours on sleep and attentional failures.
Lockley SW, Cronin JW, Evans EE, et al. N Engl J Med. 2004;351:1829-1837.
STUDY
The effects of work-hour limitations on resident well-being, patient care, and education in an internal medicine residency program.
Goitein L, Shanafelt TD, Wipf JE, Slatore CG, Back AL. Arch Intern Med. 2005;165:2601-2606.
REVIEW
Myths and realities of the 80-hour work week.
Schenarts PJ, Anderson Schenarts KD, Rotondo MF. Curr Surg. 2006;63:269-274.
View all related resources...
white box
Download: Adobe Reader   email icon Email
tan box
Find Related Resources by...
Resource Type   
 style=
Safety Target  
 style=
Approach to Improving Safety  
 style=
Origin/Sponsor  
white box