Extended Work Hours And Patient Care Essay

497 Words1 Page
bulb-icon

Recommended: Effects of burnout in nurses

We have used previously collected data and published research evidence to gather what can currently be known about the potential impact of long shifts on staff and patient outcomes. Specifically, the study set out to address the following:
• What is a link between health care worker shift hours and working injuriesm
• Is there any core -relation between extended work hours and nurse’s health i.e. physical as well as psychological?
• What impact does shift length have on the quality of patient care? The effect of shift length on quality of patient care and healthcare provider outcomes is an issue of ongoing and intense debate. The healthcare workers working extended hours has been the potential (negative) impact on the quality of patient care and on patient safety. Errors during medication administration, as well as during procedures and charting have been suggested as reasons for …show more content…

The evidence is growing that long work hours and shift work are linked to errors in the delivery of patient care. Shift work can have an impact on the physical and psychological well-being of the healthcare worker, affecting patients as well as their own safety at the workplace. Examined data from four states of nurses, their hospitals, and their patients. They reported that shifts greater than 13 hours were linked to patient dissatisfaction. (Stimpfle, et al (2012)
Specifically, patients reported that nurses were not communicating well, their pain was not controlled, they did not get help as soon as they wanted, and they would not recommend the hospital. In this study, nurses with shifts greater than 13 hours had over double the risk of burnout and job dissatisfaction. The working hours of nurses and their errors or near-errors during work. They found nurses had over three times the odds of making an error when working 12 or more hours, compared with 8.5-hour shifts. Rogers, et al

Show More
Related

  • The Pros And Cons Of Hourly Rounding

    1268 Words  | 3 Pages

    When the nursing team rounds on their patients hourly it is shown to have a relationship with a decrease call light use, falls, pressure ulcers, decrease in patient anxiety and increase in patient satisfaction rates (Ford, 2010). When hourly rounding does not occur on a hospital and patients cannot predict when the nurse will be available for physical and emotional assistance this can lead to patient consequences. When a patient cannot predict when the nurse will be available to assist or discuss can concerns that patient’s has can lead to an increase the patient’s anxiety level (Mitchell, Lavenberg, Trotta, & Umscheid, 2014). When a patient’s anxiety levels rises, the patient will try to compensate with inappropriate coping mechanisms such as, the patient trying to go to the

    Read More

  • Nurse Fatigue Case Study

    703 Words  | 2 Pages

    Inadequate rest which results in fatigue has major implications on the health and safety of registered nurses and can compromise patient care. Nurses often work three to four 12 hour shift a week without taking any breaks while on duty. They often have difficult workloads and challenges which can take a toll and impact patient care. I will be taking a look at nurse fatigue and the impact it has on the nurse’s wellbeing, work, and patient care.

    Read More

  • Pros And Cons Of Nurse-Patient Ratio

    938 Words  | 2 Pages

    The level of job satisfaction for a nurse is a vital factor in creating positive outcomes for their patients. California RNs report having much more time to spend with patients. The hospitals are far more likely to have enough RNs on staff to provide quality patient care. In California, where hospitals have better compliance with the staffing limits, RNs report fewer complaints from patients and families and the nurses have more confidence that patients can manage their care upon discharge. California RNs are substantially more likely to stay in their jobs because of the staffing limits, and less likely to report burnout than nurses in any other state. Two years after implementation of the California staffing law which mandates minimum staffing levels by hospital unit, nurse workloads in California were significantly lower than that of any other state. The legislation of the mandated nurse patient ratio has achieved its goals of reducing nurse workloads, improving recruitment and retention of nurses, and having a favorable outcomes on patient

    Read More

  • Case Study: Medication Error

    839 Words  | 2 Pages

    Over the past several years extended work shifts and overtime has increased among nurses in the hospital setting due to the shortage of nurses. Errors significantly increase and patient safety can be compromised when nurses work past a twelve hour shift or more than 40 hours a week. Hazardous conditions are created when the patient acuity is high, combined with nurse shortages, and a rapid rate of admissions and discharges. Many nurses today are not able to take regularly scheduled breaks due to the patient work load. On units where nurses are allowed to self-schedule, sixteen and twenty-four hour shifts are becoming more common, which does not allow for time to recover between shifts. Currently there are no state or federal regulations that restrict nurses from working excessive hours or mandatory overtime to cover vacancies. This practice by nurses is controversial and potentially dangerous to patients (Rogers, Hwang, Scott, Aiken, & Dinges, 2004). Burnout, job dissatisfaction, and stress could be alleviated if the proper staffing levels are in place with regards to patient care. Studies indicate that the higher the nurse-patient ratio, the worse the outcome will be. Nurse Manager’s need to be aware of the adverse reactions that can occur from nurses working overtime and limits should be established (Ford, 2013).

    Read More

  • The Implact of Working 8 vs. 12 Hour Shifts on Fatigue Among Nurses

    1771 Words  | 4 Pages

    A considerable amount of literature has been published on the impact of working hours (8 vs. 12 hour shifts) on fatigue among the nurses. These studies revealed that twelve-hour shifts increase the risk of fatigue, reduce the level of alertness and performance, and therefore reduce the safety aspect compared to eight-hour shifts (Mitchell and Williamson, 1997; Dorrian et al., 2006; Dembe et al., 2009; Tasto et al., 1978). Mills et al. (1982) found that the risk of fatigues and performance errors are associated with the 12-hour shifts. Beside this, Jostone et al. (2002) revealed that nurses who are working for long hours are providing hasty performance with increased possibility of errors.

    Read More

  • The Impact of Rotating Shift Work on Police Officers

    1234 Words  | 3 Pages

    Harrington, J. M. (2001). Health Effects of Shift Work and Extended Hours of Work. OEM Education. Retrieved on December 3, 2013, from http://oem.bmj.com/content/58/1/68.full. doi: 10.1136.oem.58.1.68

    Read More

  • The Legislative Process And Healthcare Lobbying

    1158 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...hological preparation. After a nurse is done working their regular shift being forced to work overtime can out them a greater right of medical mistake in part due to fatigue and tiredness consequently putting the patient at high risk of complications.

    Read More

  • The Problem of Nursing Burn-Out

    2208 Words  | 5 Pages

    Witkoski Stimpfel, Amy , Douglas M. Sloane, and Linda H. Aiken. "The Loger the shifts for hosital nurses, the higher the levels of burnout and patient disstisfaction." Health Affairs 31.11 (2012): 2501-2509. Proquest. Web. 11 Mar. 2014.

    Read More

  • Short Staffing Medical Errors

    292 Words  | 1 Pages

    Furthermore, short staffing affects the quality direct care each patient receives. The National Coordinating Council for Medication Error Reporting and Prevention (2012) states an estimated 98,000 individuals die every year from medical errors in the United States. One out of many significant tasks nurses do within their scope of practice is medication administration. Research shows a relationship between short staffing on medication errors: the longer the hours nurses work, the higher the chances of medication errors (Garnett, 2008). (include definition of medication error) Administering medications requires knowledge of patient rights, pharmacological information on the drug, adverse effects, proper dosage calculations, and hospital protocols. When nurses are assigned more patients, they are pressured to give due medications on time. Sometimes due to hunger or fatigue, nurses give the wrong medication to the wrong patient (Frith, Anderson, Tseng, & Fong, 2012).

    Read More

  • Shift In Nursing Essay

    1578 Words  | 4 Pages

    Notably, having higher proportions of nurses working shorter shifts—8–9 hours or 10–11 hours—resulted in decreases in patient dissatisfaction” (Stimpfel et al.). This is essentially saying that the longer the shift length, the more negative outcomes result. This study proves that eight to nine-hour shifts are more effective, and should, in turn, be worked more than longer shifts. This is a problem because hospitals are likely to continue to schedule nurses for twelve hours shifts out of

    Read More

  • High Nursing Workload Essay

    1151 Words  | 3 Pages

    Several consequences of high nursing workload have been proven to hinder the quality of patient care. Carayon and Gurses’s research (2008) indicates that heavy workload can contribute to errors, shortcuts, guideline violations, and poor communication with physicians and other providers, thus compromising the quality and safety of patient care. In addition, the research not only implies that patients may not receive proper care, but also they can experience less satisfaction with

    Read More

  • Overworked Nurses

    568 Words  | 2 Pages

    Working in a fast-paced environment and being on their feet can really take a toll on a person. In addition they have to be prepared for anything to happen during their shift. A study of overworked and stressed nurses found that nurses are overworked suffered from physical sickness like type two diabetes (Stress and overworked 2006). For most nurses, their work week consists of more than sixty hours. Working that many hours can double their chances of sicknesses. When they compare the working week hours of nurses who worked the normal 21 to 40 hours with those that work more than 40 or 60 hours a week, they found that in comparison the ones who worked 40 hours or more a week increased the risk by almost 50 percent for type 2 diabetes (Stress and overwork 2006). If nurses were to work their normal work hours without mandatory overtime, then their health would improve.

    Read More

  • Understaffing Case Study

    959 Words  | 2 Pages

    When hospitals do not have enough staff to care for patients, nurses are required to work overtime and because of that, 50% of nurses quit their job (Martin). This is not healthy for nurses and not safe for patients because if nurses are constantly working overtime, they can become tired and dissatisfied with their job. Moreover, when nurses are dissatisfied with their job because of always working overtime, it lead nurses to quit their job which can become a problem for hospitals because it is hard to keep training new nurses all the time. This can cost money and effort. In addition, it will affect patients because it nurses are tired from working overtime, quality of care for patients can suffer. According to Sung-Heui Bae, author of “Nursing Overtime: Why, How Much, and Under What Working Conditions?”, When a nurse works for over 12 hours or more than 60 hours a week, nurses are more prone to making medical errors which can compromise a patient’s safety (Bae). Like what Fackelmann says, “Overworked nurse may not get to a patient quickly enough to catch a subtle sign of a potentially deadly complication”. This can be one of the reason of 20,000 death of patients each year because of overworked nurses

    Read More

  • Literature Review Nurse Staffing

    1520 Words  | 4 Pages

    Martin (2015) looks at the effect that nurse staffing has on quality care of patients. Using numerous studies, the article reviews nurse under-staffing in hospitals and how it not only impacts the care the patient receives but also the nurse’s well-being. This article supports that staffing has a direct impact on patient care and safety and

    Read More

  • Long Working Hours Essay

    1109 Words  | 3 Pages

    Long working hours continue to be one of the largest health concerns in the world. Currently, the world population has become so busy due to the pressure from harsh economic conditions. People are therefore spending long working hours in the workplace, which is an aspect that has negative impact on their health conditions. Statistics from Working Condition Survey indicates that approximately 30% of workers residing in European Union believe that their health is at risk due to the hours they spent in the workplace (Gurung, 2010:16)

    Read More

More about Extended Work Hours And Patient Care Essay

Open Document