--- description: Many medical providers work while they're sick, despite acknowledging that it can put patients at risk, according to a new survey. title: Doctors Often Treat Patients While Sick image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5745fd9e53c0fe18/698778965f570f47e0b148f6/health-gloves.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Health](/section/health/) ## Health Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Health Care](/tag/health-care/) ## Health Care Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # 8 in 10 Doctors Admit to Treating Patients While Sick ## Video: How Suits Protect Doctors From Ebola [Watch (HLS stream): How Suits Protect Doctors From Ebola](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/O5USUvDI.m3u8) (2:12)  _Published 2014-08-04. While people rely on doctors to stop the Ebola outbreaks in Sierra Leone, Guinea, and Liberia, doctors rely on suits to protect them._ by [Alexandra Sifferlin](/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jul 6, 2015 3:05 PM CUT  Elizabeth Renstrom for TIME by [Alexandra Sifferlin](/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jul 6, 2015 3:05 PM CUT A vast majority of healthcare workers acknowledged that they show up to work while feeling sick, even if they know it poses a risk to their patients, according to [a new survey](http://archpedi.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?doi=10.1001/jamapediatrics.2015.0684 "undefined"). Medical professionals including physicians, registered nurse practitioners, physician assistants and midwives will work while they are under the weather, according to results from a small survey published Monday in the journal _JAMA Pediatrics_. Researchers surveyed over 530 attending physicians and advanced practice clinicians at a hospital and found that while 95.3% said they believed working while sick puts patients at risk, 83.1% had done it at least one time in the past year. Most respondents said they would work while sick because they didn’t want to let their coworkers down. Others cited staffing concerns, not wanting to let down their patients or fear of being “ostracized” by their peers in the hospital. The results come from one single hospital, so the findings may not apply to other medical offices. Still, the study authors conclude that the findings show an area of improvement for medical venues to both better protect patients and prevent health care worker burnout. “Creating a safer and more equitable system of sick leave for health care workers requires a culture change in many institutions to decrease stigma—internal and external—associated with health care works illness,” reads a[ corresponding editorial](http://archpedi.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?doi=10.1001/jamapediatrics.2015.0994 "undefined"). “Identifying solutions to prioritize patient safety must factor in workforce demands and variability in patient census to emphasize flexibility.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3946490/sick-doctors-nurses-survey/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3946490/sick-doctors-nurses-survey/"},"headline":"8 in 10 Doctors Admit to Treating Patients While Sick","datePublished":"2015-07-06T15:05:33.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T08:59:05.080Z","description":"Even while acknowledging that it can put patients at risk, according to a new survey.","url":"https://time.com/3946490/sick-doctors-nurses-survey/","keywords":["Health Care","sick","Infectious Disease","doctors","hospital","patients"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5745fd9e53c0fe18/698778965f570f47e0b148f6/health-gloves.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alexandra Sifferlin","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5745fd9e53c0fe18/698778965f570f47e0b148f6/health-gloves.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"TIME.com stock photos Health First Aid Kit Gloves","caption":"TIME.com stock photos Health First Aid Kit Gloves","creditText":"Elizabeth Renstrom for TIME","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/health-care/","name":"Health Care"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3946490/sick-doctors-nurses-survey/","name":"8 in 10 Doctors Admit to Treating Patients While Sick"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"How Suits Protect Doctors From Ebola","description":"While people rely on doctors to stop the Ebola outbreaks in Sierra Leone, Guinea, and Liberia, doctors rely on suits to protect them.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/O5USUvDI/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2014-08-04T22:03:18.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/O5USUvDI.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3946490/sick-doctors-nurses-survey/","duration":"PT2M12S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3946490/sick-doctors-nurses-survey/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```