Halt the Surgery—It’s Time for My Nap

The downside of requiring young doctors to get more sleep.

By E.B. SolomontPosted Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2008, at 6:58 AM ET

What happens when residents work less hours?

Much to the delight of harried young doctors everywhere, an expert panel recently agreed that medical residents aren’t getting enough sleep. Citing evidence that fatigue leads to more medical errors, the Institute of Medicine said last week that doctors in training should not work more than 16 hours without taking a five-hour nap. Though it carries no binding authority, the recommendation of the IOM’s report supplements an earlier rule, passed by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education in 2003, that limited residents to 30-hour shifts and no more than 80 hours of work each week. Surgical residents may someday soon have to prepare themselves to halt an operation and announce that it’s nap time.