| Abstract: | Call staffing and the associated long work hours can be challenging for both perioperative staff members and the health care organization. A change in culture is needed to recognize exhaustion as an unacceptable risk to patients and perioperative personnel safety. Perioperative health care providers have a personal responsibility to arrive at work fully rested. Health care organizations have a responsibility to create work and call schedules that consider the effect of long work hours on patient safety as well as perioperative staff members' welfare. The development of standardized safe work hours and call practices should reflect current recommendations emerging from authoritative sources, legislation, and empirical data. Prolonged work periods without adequate rest may contribute to diminished performance by perioperative personnel, placing both patients and workers at risk. This guidance statement may assist managers and clinicians in developing policies and procedures for safe call practices. |
