“Nocturnist years are like dog years. So really we’re celebrating you for 105 years of service!”

Shawn Lee, MD, a day shift hospitalist at Overlake Medical Center in Bellevue, Wash. (where I work), said this about our colleague, Arash Nadershahi, MD, on the occasion of his 15th anniversary as a nocturnist with our group. Every hospitalist group should be so lucky to have someone like Arash among them, whether working nights or days.

When Arash joined our group the job simply entailed turning on the pager at 9 p.m. and coming in to the hospital only when the need arose. Some nights meant only answering some “cross-cover” calls from home, while other nights started with one or more patients needing admission right at the start of the shift.

As the months went by, patient volume climbed rapidly and Arash, as well as the nocturnists who joined us subsequently, began arriving at the hospital no later than the 9:00 p.m. shift start and staying in-house until 7 a.m. We never had a meeting or contentious conversation to make it official that the night shift changed to in-house all night instead of call-from-home. It just evolved that way to meet the need.

We all value Arash’s steady demeanor, excellent clinical skills, and good relationships with ED staff and nurses as well as patients. And for many years he and our other two nocturnists have covered all night shifts, including filling in when one of them is unexpectedly out for the birth of a child, illness, or other reason. The day doctors have never been called upon to work night shifts to cover an unexpected nocturnist absence.

Configuring the nocturnist position

A full-time nocturnist in our group works ten 10-hour night shifts and two 6-hour evening shifts (5-11 p.m.) per month. I like to think this has contributed to longevity for our nocturnists. One left last year after working nights for 10 years, and another just started his 9th year in the group.

The three nocturnists can work any schedule they like as long as one of them is on duty each night. For more than 10 years they’ve worked 7 consecutive night shifts followed by 14 off (that is sometimes interrupted by an evening shift). To my way of thinking, though, they’re essentially devoting 9 days to the practice for every seven consecutive shifts. The days before they start their rotation and after they complete it are spent preparing/recovering by adjusting their sleep, so aren’t really days of R&R.

For this work their compensation is very similar to that of full-time day shift doctors. The idea is that their compensation premium for working nights comes in the form of less work rather than more money; they work fewer and shorter shifts than their daytime counterparts. And we discourage moonlighting during all those days off. We want to provide the conditions for a healthy lifestyle to offset night work.

The longest-tenured nocturnist?

At 15 years of full-time work as a nocturnist, Arash may be one of the longest-tenured doctors in this role nationally. (I would love to hear about others who’ve been at it longer.) I like to think that our “pay ’em the same and work ’em less” approach may be a meaningful contributor to his longevity in the role, but I’m convinced his personal attributes are also a big factor.

He seems to have pulled off a really good work-life balance. He is serious about his work, but has never pursued working extra shifts or moonlighting at another practice. Instead he takes full advantage of all of his time off and immerses himself in family and personal interests such as racing vintage motorcycles and constantly tinkering with cars.

His interests and creativity find their way into our workplace. For a while the day shift doctors would arrive to find our office full of motorcycle parts in various stages of assembly. Many of his doodles and drawings and witty writings are taped to the walls and cabinets. A few years ago he started writing haikus and before long everyone in the group joined in. This even led to one of our docs hosting a really fun party at which every guest wrote haikus and all had to guess the author of each one.

Other groups can’t count on finding someone as valuable as Arash, but they’ll have the best chance of it if they think carefully about how the nocturnist role is configured.

Dr. Nelson has had a career in clinical practice as a hospitalist starting in 1988. He is cofounder and past president of SHM, and principal in Nelson Flores Hospital Medicine Consultants. He is codirector for SHM’s practice management courses.

John.nelson@nelsonflores.com

On 15 years: Celebrating a nocturnist’s career longevity