My colleague, Ches Crosbie recently posted about an American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology report that studied medical charts for more than two millions births in California over a 14 year period. According to the study children born between the hours of 10 PM and 4 AM were 22% more likely to develop cerebral palsy.
Ches suggested:
Hospitals already have issues with staff shortages and fatigued workers, so it makes sense to me that these problems might be worse during the “graveyard shift”.
I couldn’t agree more. See for example Distractions & Interruptions Lead to Nursing Errors.
Ches’s link reminded me of an article I posted about last year:
Beware the July Effect:Hospital Deaths Spike in Summertime
Teaching hospitals experience higher rates of medical errors and deaths in the summertime, when medical students start their hospital training.
Night time or summertime; when medical or nursing staff are tired, over worked or inexperienced, it can only lead to more medical errors.