How many hours do you think a Medical Provider should be allowed to be on shift?

Question

The reason I ask if there is a lot of controversy going on in a surrounding county where I work. I work 24 hour shifts on the ambulance, the other county works 8 from my understating. They are trying to switch to 24 hours, but the employees are trying to fight this due to fatigue, mental health, ect.. Also, you hear of doctors working 16+ hours, and nurses sometimes working over 12 hoirs.. what is your opinion, and why?

Answer

I said 8-12 because I’m pretty darn sure that there are plenty of documented cases of errors that medical providers made because they were too tired. 
Raise your hand if you want a tired medical provider working on you?

Answer

The longer the shift, the greater risk for human error.

Answer

Nothing above 24.

Answer

Depends on volume. I don’t think MDs or nurses should work more than 12, and if it’s busy than 8 hours is ideal. As for fire/ems, also depends on run volume. I’ve worked 24-hour and 12-hour trucks, but really both were fine - just depended on average run volume. The service I worked at used to have a 24-hour that literally ran all day; worst idea EVER; crews were burned out, terrible run reports and fatigued as hell. Some of the fire stations are contemplating moving to 12-hour depending on what type of apparatus and area. Rural and suburban areas can get away with 24-hour pretty well from my experience, because they can catch some sleep, but long term health is still worse than shorter shifts from my understanding. My husband loves his 24-hours on an engine, but they aren’t super busy and he doesn’t transport people or do primary medical care (some firefighters don’t do any medical, depends on service). I’ve run cardiac arrests with minimal sleep and performed cricothyrotomies, intubated, etc. with crust in my eyes...not ideal. I did well, but let’s be honest, 24-hours of sleep deprivation is not good for medical treatment.

Answer

I say 12 hours max. My husband had to do 24 hour shifts on a private ambulance company before getting his station job, and they were so busy he never got more than an hour of sleep most nights. He still has to do 24 hour shifts at his station but he doesn’t have to run every call that comes in depending if he’s in the ambu or truck that night, and they get 48 hours off between shifts. He was so sleep deprived one night at the ambulance station that he hit another vehicle with the ambulance. I always told him I’d never be calling them if I ever needed help in the middle of the night. No way I want a sleep deprived person working on me.

Answer

I get too tired after 16 hours working to be of any use so I think longer than that will be problematic for lots of people.

Answer

I’m a nurse and i work 3 12.5hour shifts a week, with an extra shift per month in there somewhere. How many 24hour shifts do you work?

Answer

Where I live we work 3-4 12 hour shifts and 24 if we want. I’ve worked a few 24 hour shifts and it is very tiring but I don’t mind working 12 or 24 hour shifts tbh I love what I do. I think working 24 hours should be a choice.

Answer

I apologize for the grammatical errors. I just noticed them and it will not let me edit the post. 🤦🏼‍♀️

Answer

Medically after being awake for some many hours isn't it proven that you have reduced cognitive thought and motor skills? And we know changing sleep schedules makes it harder to fall asleep and get enough sleep. Why would long shifts be the norm for a community who obviously should know better? Let alone for others that need to be alert for safety sake - military, 911 operators, trailer truck drivers (though I think it is illegal for the last one to work longer than a certain shift...anyone know the number for that? It would be an interesting comparison).

How many hours do you think a Medical Provider should be allowed to be on shift?

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