Work Hours Reform

In 1989, CIR helped shape New York State’s regulations that set maximum work hour limits for housestaff. Since then, CIR members have negotiated hours limitations and program security clauses in Miami, Los Angeles and Boston. These important advances have become models for improving residency programs across the country.

CIR continues to work to establish evidence-based work hour scheduling for resident physicians that optimizes the quality of patient care, resident education, and safety.

Below are some of the latest studies and resources on a topic that effects every intern and resident, and the quality of patient care in your hospital.

• HoursWatch.org -- HoursWatch.org is dedicated to establishing evidence-based work hour scheduling for resident physicians that optimizes the quality of patient care, resident education, and safety.  HoursWatch.org is jointly sponsored by CIR and the American Medical Student Association (AMSA), two organizations with a long history of commitment to improving medical education and training.

 

•  CIR IOM position paper
•  Striving for an Evidence-based Standard for Resident Work Hours: What the data and research tell us.
•  The Case for 16 Hours: Dr. Christopher Landrigan of the Sleep and Patient Safety Program uses a PowerPoint presentation to make his case based on the evidence.
•  Changes in Outcomes for Internal Medicine Inpatients after Work-Hour Regulations: from the Annals of Internal Medicine, June 2007
• Shorter Hours, Fewer Nights: Life as a British Resident : To U.S. physicians, limiting resident work hours to 48 per week seems unimaginable. But to Elisabeth Paice, FRCP, dean of postgraduate medical education in London, it’s all part of effective medical training.
•  Capping Hours at 12: Overcoming resistance at Coney Island Hospital in Brooklyn, NY to reforming resident work hours.
•  Alert & Awake For Everyone's Sake: A Resident Work Hours Conference in New Zealand.
•  Dying to Sleep:  a legal review of driving while drowsy legislation and hospital liability for resident work hours.