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

Lim, Jae Kwan; Lee, Hyung Min; Cho, Kwang Hyun; Key, Dong Hune

J Korean Soc Emerg Med > Volume 30(6); 2019 > Article

Original Article

Journal of The Korean Society of Emergency Medicine 2019;30(6): 484-489.

국내 응급의학과 전공의의 24시간 연속근무 및 빈번한 야간근무 현황

임재관¹

, 이형민¹

, 조광현²

, 기동훈³

¹경희대학교병원 응급의학과
²을지병원 응급의학과
³가톨릭대학교 여의도성모병원 응급의학과

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

¹Department of Emergency Medicine, Kyung Hee University Hospital, Seoul, Korea
²Department of Emergency Medicine, Eulji Hospital, Seoul, Korea
³Department of Emergency Medicine, Yeouido St. Mary’s Hospital, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Korea

Correspondence

Hyung Min Lee ,Tel: 02-958-8270, Fax: 02-958-9689, Email: nice008@naver.com,

Received: May 25, 2019; Revised: September 10, 2019 Accepted: October 22, 2019. Published online: December 31, 2019.

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.
Method:
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.

Key words: Training; Emergency medicine resident; 24-Hour shifts; Night shifts