Early effects of resident work-hour restrictions on patient safety: a systematic review and plea for improved studies.
J Bone Joint Surg Am. 2011 Jan;93(2):e5
Authors: Baldwin K, Namdari S, Donegan D, Kamath AF, Mehta S
since the inception of the eighty-hour work week, work hour restrictions have incited considerable debate. Work hour policies were designed to prevent medical errors and to reduce patient morbidity and mortality. It is unclear whether work hour restrictions have been helpful in medicine in general and in orthopaedic surgery specifically. This systematic review of the literature was designed to determine the success of these restrictions in terms of patient mortality, medical errors, and complications.
PMID: 21248206 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]