Nobody should work 30 hours straight without sleep whether you're a doctor or not.
No Doctor Should Work 30 Hours Straight with No Sleep
71–80 of 208 posts
Re: No Doctor Should Work 30 Hours Straight with No Sleep
#7230-hours of non-stop work is almost 4 days of work, assuming 8 hours per day. Next time you read that a surgeon left one of his/her tools inside a patient, now you know why.
I would probably trust the worst student in a medical class when sober and well rested more than the even the best doctor after being awake for 30 hours.
Mistakes will be made and people will die. After mission critical all nighter you also need 2 days at least to be able to recuperate.
Re: No Doctor Should Work 30 Hours Straight with No Sleep
#73The culture of medicine, at least at the physician level, is completely insane; it's so insane that describing its insanity is part of the reason I wrote "Why you should become a nurse or physicians assistant instead of a doctor: the underrated perils of medical school" ( https://jakeseliger.com/2012/10/20/why-you-should-become-a-n... ). Residents in particular have no power, and even physicians themselves frequently…
My wife's a second-year resident and it's pretty unbelievable how hard and how much they work. She's on her 18th straight day of working long days during the week and long nights during the weekend. Legally there's an 80-hour per week cap, but no resident would ever complain. They do 24 hour shifts, but never 30 hour ones, though other programs at her hospital do. I felt upset about her hours all through medical scho…
If you're worried about the effects of your age on your child, why not freeze her eggs and your sperm?
Re: No Doctor Should Work 30 Hours Straight with No Sleep
#74Earlier quoted context omitted.
My wife's a second-year resident and it's pretty unbelievable how hard and how much they work. She's on her 18th straight day of working long days during the week and long nights during the weekend. Legally there's an 80-hour per week cap, but no resident would ever complain. They do 24 hour shifts, but never 30 hour ones, though other programs at her hospital do. I felt upset about her hours all through medical scho…
If she is pursuing a demanding specialty, consider having your kids while she's a resident; I've known a few people that did it and while it's hard, it can be the lesser of evils. Fellowship is just as hard - maybe even harder - than residency, and when you're practicing she likely won't be eligible for maternity leave initially and can face pressure from the group to keep on working (otherwise someone else might end…
She's sub-specializing in intensive care, unfortunately. We've discussed having children toward the end of fellowship for the reasons you state. It's a tough decision for us because I'll likely carry the brunt of the parental workload, but we also depend on my income for living expenses and loan repayment.
Re: No Doctor Should Work 30 Hours Straight with No Sleep
#75Earlier quoted context omitted.
My wife's a second-year resident and it's pretty unbelievable how hard and how much they work. She's on her 18th straight day of working long days during the week and long nights during the weekend. Legally there's an 80-hour per week cap, but no resident would ever complain. They do 24 hour shifts, but never 30 hour ones, though other programs at her hospital do. I felt upset about her hours all through medical scho…
I can definitely relate with you on this story. My wife is getting ready to start an OB/GYN residency next year (lasts 4 years for those who don't know). She just wrapped up interview season and each program had just about the same scheduling for their residents: 5 12-hour shifts at a minimum if you're lucky with one 24-hour shift per week on top of that. Often times I heard "one weekend off every six weeks". Then th…
> My wife is getting ready to start an OB/GYN residency next year (lasts 4 years for those who don't know). She just wrapped up interview season and each program had just about the same scheduling for their residents: 5 12-hour shifts at a minimum if you're lucky with one 24-hour shift per week on top of that. Often times I heard "one weekend off every six weeks". Then there's call.
How does this work out in the long term?
In the places I've seen that (not medical). It stops after a while because either the rhythm got back to normal or people burned out.
Re: No Doctor Should Work 30 Hours Straight with No Sleep
#76The interesting part of this is that truck drivers are heavily regulated, as they should. They are forced to take breaks after driving a certain number of hours. Not sure exactly, but I think it's about 8 hours. The same treatment for doctors won't be a bad idea.
While I agree with you, I have two words: Doctor shortage.
Re: No Doctor Should Work 30 Hours Straight with No Sleep
#77Do doctors and nurses get paid by the hour? If not, they should be, with double or even triple pay for overtime. That would get penny pinching administrators to stop overworking their medical staff.
Nurses, quite frequently yes. Physician reimbursement can be incredibly complicated depending on type of work.
Especially in the US with the Affordable Care Act.
Re: No Doctor Should Work 30 Hours Straight with No Sleep
#78The interesting part of this is that truck drivers are heavily regulated, as they should. They are forced to take breaks after driving a certain number of hours. Not sure exactly, but I think it's about 8 hours. The same treatment for doctors won't be a bad idea.
While I agree with you, I have two words: Doctor shortage.
Yes, and preventing health problems by preventing medical errors would go a long way towards easing up the demand for medical care.
Re: No Doctor Should Work 30 Hours Straight with No Sleep
#79Earlier quoted context omitted.
I know of no nurses that work this schedule, even voluntarily (overtime, swaps). Nursing in many states is challenged by unsafely high patient:staff ratios, excessive documentation requirements (on extremely slow user interfaces), and the need to vigorously double-check physician's orders (dangerous drug interactions, over-dosages, etc).
A friend of mine had to become his wife's driver, because after working double shifts across two hospitals, she could barely keep her eyes open.
There you have it: she was working agency at a secondary hospital. That is due to a decision of her agency or herself; it has nothing to do with hospital administration or nursing in general.
Re: No Doctor Should Work 30 Hours Straight with No Sleep
#80Earlier quoted context omitted.
This is not true. A doctor is a person who is extremely motivated by money but was too uncreative to come up with their own path for getting there. They suck it up because its going to allow them to buy their 3rd summer beach house. Not because they are genuinely better people.
Damn I feel sorry for you. Although I'm an engineer, I know many many doctors around me (admittedly not many in the US). Most of them (especially the new generation in their mid 30s) are curious, innovative, hard working and do the extra mile for their patients. They work long hours because: they love what they do and don't see themselves doing any other thing and because they care about the outcome of their patients…
Although the parent was very angsty in his response, I feel the same way. Never had a good experience with a doctor and believe that they don't have good intentions.
When you have to spend a whole day searching for a terrible doctor in your network, then take a day off only to have said by terrible doctor, "How can I help you." I rage so hard. You aren't helping me, I am your client, now lets get his terrible experience over with.
Also, when you are told you whole life to get your wisdom teeth out only to have part of your jaw suffer from paresthesia for the rest of your life, it makes me wonder why bother.
Death honestly feels like a better option sometimes than dealing with anything in the medical industry