Night Float Teaching and Learning: Perceptions of Residents and Faculty

Abstract

Despite a substantial allotment of time to night rotations, there appear to be lost teaching and learning opportunities in the current night float system. Modification of the existing format may improve its educational value.

The Perceived Effect of Duty Hour Restrictions on Learning Opportunities in the Intensive Care Unit

“…Despite reduced learning opportunities, both junior and senior residents valued their learning opportunities, particularly didactic teaching sessions and morning signin rounds (T A B L E 2). This is consistent with literature from internal medicine residency training programs that have adopted a night float system, 7,12,13,15 where residents work several consecutive night shifts during their rotations.…”

“…1 Although the reduction of resident duty hours may decrease medical errors in the ICU, 1 the effect on resident learning is unclear. Several studies [5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16] have evaluated the impact of reduced duty hours on learning in surgical, pediatric, and internal medicine environments. However, there are no published studies that have evaluated its impact on learning in ICU settings where knowledge and procedural skills requirements are different.…”

Twelve tips for overnight teaching

“…Working only at night may limit opportunities for housestaff to attend traditional didactics or learn from attending physicians on rounds or at the bedside. In general, the literature supports this: housestaff identify limited educational value in night float rotations (Bricker & Markert 2010;Luks et al 2010;Nabi et al 2013). This is particularly relevant as learning and educational opportunities during training are among the most important factors to residents when selecting a residency training program (Ishida et al 2012).…”

Implementation of a Novel, Resident-Led, Nocturnal Curriculum

“…[2][3][4] Multiple studies have highlighted residents' perceptions of night float rotations as predominantly service-focused time with few formal educational opportunities. [4][5][6][7] While night float rotations have been valued for their experiential learning potential, they have historically lacked a formalized educational component. 8,9 As trainees now spend an increasing amount of time on night float rotations, residency programs have evolved to leverage the potential learning opportunities available at night and to establish new metrics to define its success.…”