Dear Editor:
Death linked to sleep-deprived resident doctors are growing at an alarming rate.
When a patient checks into a hospital, that patient expects the best possible care.
But because of the stressful requirements placed on recent medical school graduates, patients are often placed in the care of doctors who are so fatigued they fall asleep while caring for a patient.
Resident doctors often are required to work 24 to 36-hour shifts in a day, and as many as 100 to 120 hours per week to fulfill the requirements placed on them by their medical universities and the hospitals in which they work. Such requirements are overzealous and place patients, as well as young doctors, in an unsafe position.
Requiring residents to work days on end without suitable rest lacks common sense. Studies show that lack of sleep can result in cognitive impairment greater than that resulting from alcohol intoxication, leaving people to wonder why resident physicians are placed under such stressful conditions.
That is why federal legislation to mandate how many hours a medical resident can work is needed. I have introduced legislation – the Patient and Physician Safety and Protection Act of 2002 – to limit the number of hours a resident physician can work.
Under my measure, a medical resident cannot work more than 80 hours per week and no more than 24 hours consecutively. Only in times of emergency can a resident work more than 24 hours straight.
Moreover, my legislation would provide additional federal funding to hospitals that increase staffing levels, so as to ensure less hours for overworked, sleep-deprived doctors.
When it comes to health care, a patient’s safety and well-being should be of the utmost importance. The only surefire way to ensure hospital safety is by keeping physicians alert and well-rested.
Jon S. Corzine
United States Senator
New Jersey