J Korean Soc Emerg Med.  2019 Dec;30(6):484-489. 10.0000/jksem.2019.30.6.484.

24-Hour shifts and frequent night shifts of Korean emergency medicine residents

• Lim JK
• Lee HM
• Cho KH
• Key DH

• KMID: 2470538
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.0000/jksem.2019.30.6.484

Abstract

OBJECTIVE
The newly implemented Training Rule Standard limits the amount of resident working hours to serve the interests of the patients and residents alike. On the other hand, the law does not sufficiently protect emergency medicine residents from a long shift length and frequent night shift. Excessive shift work can cause physical and neuropsychological problems for residents. Therefore, this study examined the 24-hour shifts and night shifts status of emergency medicine residents at the training hospitals.
METHODS
The 30 training hospitals were divided into three groups according to the number of residents (≤4, 5-8, and ≥ 9) and the associations between each group and the 24-hour shifts, night shifts, number of working days, working hours, and annual patients per resident were checked. The associations between the resident grades and 24-hour shifts, night shifts, number of working days and working hours were also examined.
RESULTS
Hospital groups with fewer residents had the highest number of patients per resident with the highest number of 24-hour shifts and the highest number of night shifts. The first year residents had the highest number of 24-hour shifts, the highest number of night shifts, and the highest number of working hours.
CONCLUSION
More 24-hour shifts and more night shifts occur at hospitals that lack work force. Therefore, there is a need for new standards for limiting the working hours and frequency of night shifts in emergency rooms, and there is a need for discussions on reinforcing the work force.

Keyword

Training; Emergency medicine resident; 24-Hour shifts; Night shifts

MeSH Terms

Emergencies*
Emergency Medicine*
Emergency Service, Hospital
Hand
Humans
Jurisprudence