New Health Affairs Study Shows Long Working Hours for Nurses Lead to Medical Errors.

Byline: Burness Communications

BETHESDA, Md., July 7 (AScribe Newswire) -- Medical errors and near errors are more likely to occur in hospitals when staff nurses routinely work long and unpredictable hours, an increasingly common practice throughout the United States as hospitals cope with a shortage of registered nurses, according to a new study in the July/August issue of the journal Health Affairs.

The link between errors and sleep-deprived resident physicians has been well documented. This study, by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing, is one of the first national attempts to quantify hospital nurses' working conditions and the effect on patient safety. The study, funded by the …