What are dangers of sleep deprivation for doctors?

At this year's Euroanaesthesia Congress in Milan, Italy, consultant anesthesiologist Dr. Nancy Redfern of Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Newcastle, UK, gave a review of the potentially deadly effects of fatigue on doctors and nurses themselves, its impact on the quality of their clinical work and judgment, and thus on patient safety.

She also recommends that all doctors and nurses take 20-minute naps during night shifts to keep patients safe (and make their own trips home after work safer), and recommends that no doctor or nurse work more than 3 consecutive night shifts.

Studies have shown that driving after being awake for 20 hours or more and during the body's circadian minimum (at night or early morning, when it needs sleep the most) is just as dangerous as driving with high alcohol levels above the legal limit. And workers who drive home after a 12-hour shift are twice as likely to be involved in an accident as those who work an 8-hour shift.

After 2 or more nights of limited sleep, "sleep debt" begins to accumulate, and it takes at least 2 nights of good sleep to recover. Cognitive function deteriorates after 16 to 18 hours of wakefulness, leading to a decline in the health care provider's ability to interact effectively with patients and colleagues, Medical Xpress writes.

Dr. Redfern concluded that fatigue causes spontaneous, unrecognizable uncontrollable "sleep lapses" or "microsleeps," meaning that going home tired is the most dangerous thing for a health care provider to do, and that a short 20-minute nap improves staff and patient safety, and discussed ways to incorporate this into night shift work.

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