Shift In Nursing Essay

Problems That Come with Nursing

Nursing is a great career choice that can be very rewarding and has many benefits that come with the job. One downside to nursing is the scheduling because it runs on a shift system, it can lead to many problems. Nurses often have to work long hours, that can last sometimes more than twelve hours at a time. Working this long can lead to problems on the job, as well as health problems and trouble sleeping.

Many nurses have to work shifts that are way too long, and this can have severe effects on their ability to stay sharp while working. According to Long Hours, Shift Work Still Plagues Nurses by Nancy Brent, a Registered Nurse and writer, seventy- five percent of nurses work twelve or more hour shifts. Not

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

The authors and scientists from a different study by the U.S National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health on long and short-term sleep deprivation state directly that “in certain jobs, people face sleep restriction. Some professions such as health care… require working at night. In such fields, the effect of acute total sleep deprivation (SD) on performance is crucial” (Alhola & Polo-Kantola, Sleep deprivation: Impact on cognitive performance). Depending on their schedule, nurses can often be susceptible to sleep deprivation and are no exception, especially if they are working long hours. The study performed research on how acute and chronic sleep deprivation can affect the brain and how it can slow down or worsen thought process and rationality throughout the day for working adults. The authors also explain that “motor function, rhythm, receptive and expressive speech, and memory ...deteriorated after one night of SD.” (Alhola and Polo-Kantola, Sleep deprivation: Impact on cognitive performance) Although everybody is affected by a lack of sleep differently, some might have the ability to handle it a lot better than others, but it is fair to say that no one can perform their jobs perfectly if their brains are being affected by sleep deprivation. This organization concludes this study by explaining that there is still much research that needs to be