Meaning and Definition of Guard

Definition of guard

The guards are a form of work of the team of health, its purpose is to make medical services available in continuous and permanent way to the general population, 7 days a week and 365 days a year. Guard shifts can be 12 hours or 24 hours, are usually 24-hour rotating every 5 or 6 days.
The guards are held by excellence in areas such as emergencies, emergency departments, intensive care, hospitals, clinics and institutions of detention as geriatric and psychiatric institutes.
Guard units are usually formed by resident graduate under the command of specialists who receive the name of Deputy medical doctors, medical specialties in charge of these services are internal medicine, general surgery, Traumatology, Pediatrics and obstetrics, in some countries they are carried out by medical specialists in emergencies. These specialities receive patients, stabilize them, they practice complementary studies and derived to the corresponding sub-specialists as needed, the most frequently related to emergency subspecialties are neurosurgery, surgery of thorax, ophthalmology, otolaryngology, Neurology, cardiology, and Psychiatry.
The number and diversity of specialities available depends on the complexity of the institution. Guard work is a compulsory work from the last years of the undergraduate to medical students, who initially spend few hours when they are external and must subsequently make the full shift during the last year of the race being internal. During postgraduate studies which can last from 3 to 6 years, are an essential part of the formation of the doctor being needed to acquire skills in the diagnosis and management of critical patients or conditions that may put at risk the life.
The team not only guard is comprised of physicians, also professional nursing, radiology, diagnostic integrate it by images, microbiology, auxiliary laboratory, blood bank, cleaning and maintenance personnel and security officers.
The guards work benefits the community to provide them with the opportunity to resolve situations that cause great discomfort or even put their lives at risk, however for health personnel constitute a work activity that generates physical and mental fatigue, anxiety, stress and disturbance of the personal and family life of those who run it. Many times doctors should labour turn back to culminate the guard who is known as postguardia which leads you to run a workday that can reach the 36 or even 48 hours, that is associated with the risk of that doctor fatigue may affect the decision-making process which can negatively affect the health of patients.