Fatigue among Clinicians and the Safety of Patients

Clinicians, especially physicians in training, often work long hours and get inadequate sleep. The implications of fatigue among clinicians for the quality of medical care have not been adequately studied, but sleep deprivation is likely to cause medical errors. This article reviews the effect of fatigue on performance, as well as current policies regulating residents' hours of work and options for new regulations governing residency shifts. The authors argue that reform is needed because the long work hours of clinicians adversely affect the quality of health care.