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Rolf Paulson, MD
St Paul-Ramsey (Minn) Medical Center

JAMA. 1981;246(2):124.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text PDF and any section headings.

To the Editor.—

In the MEDICAL NEWS section of THE JOURNAL, Phil Gunby (1981;245:900) writes of interesting and pertinent studies going on at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration regarding airline pilots, jet lag, and its effect on their level of performance. This is especially pertinent if you ride airplanes. Investigators at Harvard Medical School made some comments and recommendations.

I would suggest that the investigators could find equally pertinent subject material regarding "jet lag" closer to home: hospital nurses, house staff, emergency room staff, and others—those who are entrusted in large degree with the care of hospital inpatients.

Working two to three different shifts in the same week—double shifts and "doubling back" (on one, off one, on one)—is taken for granted by the nursing profession. The resulting burnout from this has been one of the big factors in the present nursing shortage. Beyond its effect on quantity though, I . . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]

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