Fatigued doctors and nurses may be at a much higher risk of making medical errors, endangering patient safety. However, a study finds that when medical professionals are working together as a team, it can help deflect any risks from the person’s tired condition.

The results of the study have been published in the American Psychological Association’s Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied. The study involved 171 Army cadets who were asked to perform math problems after night watches and other training exercises. The researchers found that individual soldiers who were tired performed poorly on the test compared to those soldiers who were also tired but worked as a unit, while teams of tired cadets performed just as well as alert individuals.

What this seems to suggest to Arizona medical malpractice lawyers is that doctors and nurses who are working together as a team may be able to avoid medical errors as a result of their fatigue. When people work together as a team, they may be motivated to perform well. Team members are more likely to compare solutions and ideas. Fatigued individuals may not have these benefits. While working in a team, people are much more likely to develop flexible ways of thinking and addressing the problem.

There have been a number of studies conducted into how fatigue affects individuals, especially in hospitals and healthcare settings. However, this is believed to be one of the first studies into how fatigue can be circumvented through teamwork. The researchers recommend that in situations where fatigue can be a factor, teams of professionals should be allowed to make decisions, and not individuals. If that is not possible, then hospitals must train their medical professionals to identify specific risks, like inflexible thinking to that can arise out of working alone.