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Working the Night Shift: Preparation, Survival and Recovery. A Guide for Junior Doctors
Working the Night Shift: Preparation, Survival and Recovery. A Guide for Junior Doctors. Nicholas Horrocks and Roy Pounder. Published by Royal College of Physicians of London, January 2006. ISBN 1 86016 259 2. Price: UK: £10.00 (pack of 20), £3.00 single; Overseas: £12.00 (pack of 20), £4.00 single. 24 pp. (http://www.rcplondon.ac.uk/pubs/books/nightshift/).
This is a practical guide developed for junior doctors who work night shifts.
It has been prepared on behalf of a multidisciplinary working group led by the authors convened by the Royal College of Physicians. The members of the group and contributors to the guide range from medical administrators, Postgraduate Medical Deans, hospital consultants, junior doctors in training (specialist registrars and senior house officers) and medical students. Representatives from the NHS, British Medical Association and Royal Colleges of Physicians, Surgeons, Anaesthetists, Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, Paediatrics and Child Health have also been included in development.
The stated aim of the guide is to provide simple advice to junior doctors on how best to prepare before working night shifts, how to stay alert and refreshed while on duty and how to recover from working nights.
The introductory chapter briefly describes the changes in working patterns as a result of implementing the European Working Time Directive, sleep physiology and its effect on shift work and safety of night work in hospitals. The book has three sections, namely, preparing for night shift, surviving the night shift and recovering from night shift. The chapters in these sections give practical guidance on how to readjust the sleep pattern during night shifts, maintaining alertness and vigilance as well as eating and refreshing while at night work. Finally, there are tips on getting back home after night shift and recovering after the last night shift. The key point in each chapter is illustrated in text boxes.
Understanding the common problems faced by junior doctors while on night shifts might greatly help occupational physicians in many ways. To name a few, advising hospital management regarding policy decisions on night shifts, preventing and managing illnesses in junior doctors. This book specifically addresses some of these and intends to guide them in order to maximize their ability to cope with working at a time when their bodies ‘want to sleep’. The practical guidelines are evidence based and clearly presented.
The booklet is informative and readable and is highly recommended for junior doctors who are involved in shift work and other related health care professionals.
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