Resident and faculty evaluations of a psychiatry night-float system.

This study used self-report questionnaires to examine resident and faculty perceptions of a new night-float schedule for coverage of a psychiatric emergency room compared with a traditional night-call system. The residents reported improved well-being, educational experience, and performance of clinical duties under the night-float system compared with a traditional call schedule. The faculty had a generally favorable impression of the new system. Night-float systems may provide a means of improving psychiatric residents' emergency room and outpatient experiences without compromising patient care, although further studies are needed to measure fully the cost-benefit ratio of such programs.