What is night float?

[LGMD]

Can someone explain what night float is?

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[elwademd]

Can someone explain what night float is?

it's a system designed to allow the person "on call" to get some rest.

for example, say you were on call for tomorrow (7/24) from 7 am for 24 hours (until 7 am 7/25), then 6 hours of continuity of care ('til 1 pm 7/25)... only to be on call again 3-4 days from now. some would say you'd get tired during that one particular call... and perhaps even be tired for the next call.

the "night float" is someone that comes in somewhere between 9-12 hours (depending on the program/system) to relieve you. so, between 7 pm and 9 pm on tomorrow (7/24), the night float would relieve you and take the rest of your call, so that you could come in later and be refreshed.

the night float allows you to get some rest, while continuing to provide care for the patient(s).

 

[Dr. Wexler]

I've always thought of "night float" as "night shift". Rather than have 4 people taking call once per 4 days, you have 1 person working (doing the work that the call resident would normally do) straight nights one month at a time. That way the other 3 people don't have to take call because the night float is doing it all.

I know this is an oversimplification, but that is what I think of when I hear "night float.

 

[OB1🤙]

That's how most night float systems work. Where I'm a prelim, it works a little differently- You still take call (for us on gmed it's Q5), and when on call you still admit patients and manage your own floor patients. However, instead of also managing all the other teams' floor patients as well (of which there are many), there's a night float that comes in to do that. So you never get stuck running around to handle things on people you know nothing about, you just get to concentrate on your own pts and your new admits.

Not quite as good as no call at all, but a hell of a lot better than the traditional way.