There are guidelines about how many hours interns and more senior residents can work in a day or week. Many, however, may go past those limits and lie about it.

Writing in STAT, Christopher Lee Bennett, MD, an emergency medicine resident at Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham and Women’s Hospital, said the residents lie for more noble reasons, like to care for patients.

Other times, however, it could be administrators or the residents themselves urging them to work longer and longer hours.

“A significant number of residents exceed the work hour limit because of external pressure from authority figures,” Bennett wrote. “Others blame it on internal pressures, such as guilt about leaving the hospital or feeling they are expected to work beyond their limits. These internal and external pressures are alarming given the high rates of burnout, depression, substance abuse and suicide among resident physicians across the country.”

For more on Bennett’s findings and why these long shifts can affect care, click on the link below: