Surviving the night shift

An expert working group led by the Royal College of Physicians of London has produced a unique guide to preparing for, surviving and recovering from night shifts.

Working the night shift: preparation, survival and recovery – A guide for junior doctors’, covers when and where to sleep, how to improve alertness, advice on caffeine and sleeping pills, and when to use public transport instead of driving home. Advice also includes how to build a successful normal sleep routine, evidence on using short naps to counteract fatigue and keeping your ‘sleep debt’ to a minimum.

– A guide for junior doctors’, covers when and where to sleep, how to improve alertness, advice on caffeine and sleeping pills, and when to use public transport instead of driving home. Advice also includes how to build a successful normal sleep routine, evidence on using short naps to counteract fatigue and keeping your ‘sleep debt’ to a minimum.

Changes to working patterns as a result of the European Working Time Directive mean that most junior doctors now work full 11 to 13 hour night shifts, rather than on-call, as part of their rotas. On these occasions junior doctors can expect to stay awake and working throughout the night.

The guide aims to help junior doctors avoid problems on night shifts to improve patient and staff safety, and to help tackle potential issues. The guide has been produced with the support of the Workforce Projects Team. Professor Roy Pounder, Royal College of Physicians lead for the European Working Time Directive, said: “Some hospital doctors have to work at night – especially those avoid problems on night shifts to improve who care for emergency admissions and patient and staff safety, and to help tackle the gravely ill. This guide offers really practical advice, and hopefully it will make produced with the support of NHS this stressful work a bit easier, and safer for both the patients and their doctors.”

“With the advent of the European Working Time Directive, hospitals are taking on new shift patterns that are designed to reduce the overall hours worked by junior medical staff,” commented Sue Dean, associate director at Skills for Health - Workforce Projects Team, “This is a positive move but we also need to avoid potential issues in adopting new ways of working. Our aim is to help support the NHS in planning and adapting to new and future ways of working and this guide provides practical advice for staff to do this.”

‘Working the night shift: preparation, survival and recovery – A guide for junior doctors’ has been distributed to trusts across the country. Further copies are available by request to wtd@skillsforhealth.org.uk

The guide is also downloadable free of charge from the RCP www.rcplondon.ac.uk and other Medical Royal College websites, and by clicking here.