Shaw, G. Emergency Medicine News 2016; 38 (4): 14–15
doi: 10.1097/01.EEM.0000482465.90282.4c
"Emergency medicine ranks at or near the top of nearly every national survey on physician burnout, a dubious honor that is reported over and over, as it was in one recent study that found that more than 70 percent of emergency physicians reported experiencing burnout significantly more than most other medical specialties. (Mayo Clin Proc 2015;90[12]:1600.)
Many reasons have been offered for why emergency physicians have become burned to an extra-crispy degree, but most experts seem to agree the unpredictability and exhaustion of shift work is the real culprit. Shift work and long hours, in fact, have been identified as primary reasons why emergency physicians leave the field. (Acad Emerg Med 1998;5[3]:234.) Working the night shift can damage everything from your relationship with your children and spouse — shift workers tend to have higher divorce rates — to your cardiac and gastrointestinal health. (Occup Environ Med 2001;58[1]:68.)...
Dr. Mallemat recommended a few key sleep hygiene tips for night shift workers:
- Wear dark sunglasses on the way home from work to minimize your exposure to those “wake up!” messages from sunlight.
- Go straight home to bed after work. Don't stop to run errands or get busy with something else.
- Avoid caffeine and heavy foods as you are coming off shift; they will keep you up.
- Use eye masks, blackout shades, earplugs, and white noise machines to keep your bedroom dark and peaceful when you have to sleep in the morning."