J Korean Med Assoc.  2016 Feb;59(2):82-84. 10.5124/jkma.2016.59.2.82.

Working conditions of interns/residents and patient safety: Painful training might not be authentic

• Kim SS

• KMID: 2153710
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.5124/jkma.2016.59.2.82

Abstract

The current working conditions of medical interns and residents in South Korea pose dangers to patient safety as well as to staff health. A national survey in 2014 showed that interns/residents worked an average of 93 hours per week. The prevalence of physical and verbal violence experienced by medical residents in the preceding 12 months was reported as 13.1% and 61.5%, respectively. Furthermore, sleep deprivation due to long working hours was strongly associated with a high risk of committing 'near miss errors'. An act to govern the working environment of interns/residents was established in 2015 and stipulates a maximum working hours of 88 hours per week. This is an important step toward improving patient safety and intern/resident health in South Korea.

Keyword

Patient safety; Intern; Resident; Working hour; Occupational health

MeSH Terms

Humans
Korea
Occupational Health
Patient Safety*
Prevalence
Sleep Deprivation
Violence

Figure

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  Figure 1 Association between sleep hours per day and near miss error over the past 3 months among medical interns/residents in South Korea (n=1,784). Adjusted for age, sex, income, marital status, region, medical specialty, training year, questionnaire type, and hospital type. CI, confidence interval.

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