Physicians' working time restriction and its impact on patient safety: an integrative review.

BACKGROUND: Although shift work is a part of the physicians' routine, there is controversy on the length of shifts and adequate rest for safe professional practice. If on the one hand long working hours might have negative impact on patient safety by interfering with the psychological and physical functioning of physicians, on the other shorter working hours might impair the safety of patients due to interference with the continuity of care.
OBJECTIVE: To analyze the impact of restrictions to physicians' working hours on patient safety.
METHOD: Integrative literature review in which we surveyed studies on restriction to physicians' working time and patient safety included in databases National Library of Medicine (PubMed) and Scientific Electronic Library Online (SciELO) until May 2018. Thirty-five studies which met the inclusion criteria were included.
RESULTS: Patient safety outcomes analyzed in the included studies were mortality, adverse events, continuity of care, in-hospital complications, readmission rate and length of stay at hospital. Restriction to working time was associated with variable impact on patient safety indicators, but often did not modify their performance.
CONCLUSION: Restrictions to physicians' working time did not always improved patient safety indicators. Focusing on interventions which only seek to limit the workload of physicians might be insufficient to bring consistent improvement to patient care.