Duty hours vs professional ethics

Evaluated the new duty hour requirements promulgated by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education to improve patient safety by ensuring that residents will be well-rested and less likely to make mistakes when taking care of patients.

Abstract

In July 2003, the new duty hour requirements promulgated by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) went into effect. Broadly stated, the rules limit residents to 80 hours a week and no more than 24 hours on call at a time. They provide a 6-hour window for transfer of patient care and didactic activities for residents who are post-call. In addition, residents must not take call more than every three days and must have one day in seven free from patient-care responsibilities. The purpose of the rules is to improve patient safety by ensuring that residents will be well-rested and less likely to make mistakes when taking care of patients. The impetus for change is the increase in the severity of illness in patients admitted to the hospital, the increased public attention to the issue of medical errors in general, and the subsequent threat of federal legislation.1 In addition, the ACGME points to sleep studies that link sleep deprivation to declines in cognitive functioning as another reason for implementing the new rules.1 The relative strengths and weaknesses of the rules in improving patient outcomes are debated in other essays.2 My purpose here is to evaluate the new rules in light of their …