system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: Why are doctors and nurses encouraged to work such long shifts(like 14hrs +) Wouldn't the quality of care be of utmost importance, and decrease as staff get tired?
gpt
To some degree having them work longer shifts reduces the frequency of hand offs which is where a significant amount of medical errors are generated through specific details about a patient being left out and the incoming doctors ignorance of the detail possibly leading to a bad outcome. Its a trade off though as the shift gets too long the work fatigue itself can impair the providers/staff functioning. Also lot of people like the longer shifts because then they can work 3-4 days a week instead of the "standard" 5 days a week from "the prototypical work week".