Twenty-Four-Hour Attending Coverage and Its Effect on Trainee Educational Opportunities

Nocturnal ICU staffing gained favor after correlation was shown between intensivist presence and better patient outcomes. We conducted a cross-sectional survey of stakeholders at a tertiary care academic medical center to evaluate the impact of 24-h attending presence on overnight educational environment, learner autonomy, and attending quality of life. Our results showed an improved sense of educational quality along with diminished trainee autonomy. Attending job satisfaction was poor and this was not entirely explained by persistent daytime demands. This identifies areas for initiatives to encourage trainee autonomy and system evaluations of how best to staff attending nocturnal coverage.