INTRODUCTION The twelve-hour work shift has a long standing history in nursing. Most hospitals and other healthcare agencies work 12 hour shifts daily where some health organizations have decreased the work shift to eight hours. As the twelve-hour shift nurse, you spend half of the 24 hour day at the hospital. The number of research articles available regarding the correlation between twelve-hour shifts, nursing fatigue, and patient satisfaction is astonishing. Nurses are usually the first impression a patient has upon arriving to the hospital meaning the nurse greatly influences the patient’s opinion on a particular healthcare body. A healthcare body is based on ratings which are measured by a patient’s feedback on the quality of patient …show more content…
The 23.5 out of 24 hours per day the physician is not at a particular patient’s bedside, the nurse will be first responder in the event of a crisis. With that being said, the nurse’s role is an important one in relation to patient safety. The average nurse works twelve or more hours per shift; therefore, they work over half of the entire 24 hours in one day. Most of the American workforce experiences fatigue at any given point during an average eight-hour work day. Hospitals in the last few decades have shifted from an individual being considered a patient to being considered a client. This single statement shows us the importance that all workers in the industry be customer service driven. A hospital runs on notoriety and excellent client feedback. The reputation of a hospital depends on each person as a part of the coordinated care team especially the physicians and nurses. A nurse who becomes fatigued and stays this …show more content…
To prove the statement, researched was conducted by secondary analysis of accredited journal articles with use of data obtained from the research findings of the “Multi-State Nursing Care and Patient Safety Study which nurses from four different states from 2005 through 2008 about their length of shift, conditions in which they worked, the development of burnout, their overall satisfaction at work, and any intentions to leave the employer (Stimpfel et al., 2012).” The research for this article was supplemented with cross-sectional data from Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems survey compiled during 2006 through 2007. The research states that 65 % of nurses from this survey worked twelve or more hours per shift mainly in high-tech hospitals. Approximately 88% of these nurses were satisfied with their schedules at this time but as the shift length increased so did the percentage for intention to leave the job within a year. As for shift longer shift lengths increasing patient satisfaction, research states, “we found that seven of the ten outcomes were significantly and adversely affected by the pro- portion of nurses in the hospital working shifts of more than thirteen hours, including both of the global assessments of care—patients’ rating of the hospital
Patients expect instant response to call lights due to today’s technological advancements. This can negatively impact nurse stress and cause contempt toward the patient. However, the expectation to respond promptly improves safety and encourages frequent rounding. Also, aiming for high patient satisfaction scores on the HCAHPS/Press Ganey by fulfilling patient requests can overshadow safe, efficient, and necessary healthcare. Although patient satisfaction is important, ultimately, the patient’s health takes precedence over satisfying patient and family requests, especially when those requests are unnecessary, harmful, or take away from the plan of care (Junewicz & Youngner, 2015). The HCAHPS/Press Ganey survey focuses on the patient’s perception of care. The problem with this aspect of the survey is that the first and foremost goal of nurses should not be to increase a patient’s score based on perception. According to an article in Health Facilities Management, the nurse’s top priority is to provide the safest, most quality care possible for patients with the resources they are given (Hurst, 2013). Once this has been accomplished, the nurse can then help the patient realize that the most
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.
Overall, 12 hours may seem long but it is relatively productive for a week. Nurses who work 12 hour shifts and being able to do something they like are more likely to want to work for 12 hours. They find it flexible and balance between work and families. It is a duty to the heart to help those in need if it requires more time. It is similar to anyone who really works hard to get better results. Nurses work hard to get to where they are now and therefore should have the right to choose 12 hour shifts. It is important for nurses to understand that all jobs have negative outcomes, but as long as they make the choice to maintain the level of their health and sleep by taking breaks and adequate exercise. They can further be energized in helping patients and finding work more effectively.
Over the past years, there has been a nursing shortage which has led to the need of more registered nurses in the hospital setting. This is the result of higher acuity of patient care and a decrease in their length of hospital stay. In order for the patients to get safe and quality care, the staffing, education and experience of the nursing staff needs to be made a priority. Because of the lack of nurses, patient quality of care has suffered.
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.
Recent literature reports that there is a nursing shortage and it is continually increasing. Data released by the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (2011) projects that the shortage, would increase to 260,000 by the year 2025. AACN (2011) also reported that 13% of newly registered nurses changed jobs and 37% were ready to change within a year. A study conducted reports that there is a correlation between higher nursing workloads and nurse burnout, retention rates, job dissatisfaction and adverse patient outcomes (Vahey & Aiken, 2004). Among the nurses surveyed in the study, over 40% stated that they were suffering from burnout while 1 in 5 nurses intended
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.
In the recent past, nursing has come to the forefront as a popular career amongst students across the globe. The demand for nurses has kept increasing gradually over the years. In fact, the number of registered nurses does not meet the demand of the private and public health sector. This phenomenon has resulted in a situation where the available registered nurses have to work extra hours in order to meet the patients’ needs. With this in mind, the issue of nurse fatigue has come up as a common problem in nursing. According to the Canadian Nurses Association (CNA), nurse fatigue is “a feeling of tiredness” that penetrates a persons physical, mental and emotional realms limiting their ability to function normally. Fatigue does not just involve sleepiness as has been assumed before. It involves utter exhaustion that is not easily mitigated through rest. When nurses ignore the signs of fatigue, they risk the development of chronic fatigue and other health problems that may not be easily treated. Additionally, fatigue may cause nurses to lose more time at work as they may have to be away from work for several days to treat it. The issue of nurse fatigue has permeated the nursing profession to the extent of causing errors in the work performed by nurses. Fatigue causes a decrease in a nurse’s ability to make accurate decisions for themselves and their patients. It is therefore important to find ways to curb nurse fatigue such that it is no longer a problem. Nurse fatigue is a danger to the patients, organizations and to the nurses themselves and must be mitigated adequately.
In most aspects of life the saying “less is always more” may ring true; however when it comes to providing quality care to patients, less only creates problems which can lead to a decrease in patient’s quality of life as well as nurse’s satisfaction with their jobs. The massive shortage of nurses throughout the United States has gotten attention from some of the most prestigious schools, news media and political leaders. Nurses are being burnt out from their jobs, they are being overworked and overlooked. New nurses are not being properly trained, and old nurses are on their way to retirement. All the while the rate of patient admissions is on the rise. Nurses are reporting lower satisfaction in their job positions and hospital retention rates are at an all-time low, conversely this is affecting all patients’ quality of care. As stated in the article Addressing The Nurse Shortage To Improve The Quality Of Patient Care “According to an Institute of Medicine report, Nurses are the largest group of health care professionals providing direct patient care in hospitals, and the quality of care for hospital patients is strongly linked to the performance of nursing staff”.
Patient’s safety will be compromised because increase of patient to nurse ratio will lead to mistakes in delivering quality care. In 2007, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) conducted a metanalysis and found that “shortage of registered nurses, in combination with increased workload, poses a potential threat to the quality of care… increases in registered nurse staffing was associated with a reduction in hospital-related mortality and failure to rescue as well as reduced length of stay.” Intense workload, stress, and dissatisfaction in one’s profession can lead to health problems. Researchers found that maintaining and improving a healthy work environment will facilitate safety, quality healthcare and promote a desirable professional avenue.
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 literature supports that high nursing workload adversely affects the quality of patient care, nurses’ satisfaction with job, and the healthcare institutions’ attempt to provide cost effective nursing care.
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
When working as a staff nurse in a hospital setting, there is no Monday thru Friday 9-5 schedule. There is a need to have a nurse staffed around the clock and all shifts must be covered at all times. For most staff nurses, their full-time schedule involves either working an 8 hour shift 40 hours a week or a 12 hour shift 36 hours a week. But, how many nurses really work only 40 hours a week? Some nurses may volunteer to work overtime, but what happens when there are no volunteers.
These longer shifts are seen with nurses working in the ICU, pediatrics, OB, and the ED. One of the chief benefits of working twelve hour shifts is nurses only having to work three times a week rather than five times. Facilities benefit from this as well due to less paid break time and fewer handover hours where overlapping shifts are clocked in at the same time for patient report. This study pointed out that fatigue in twelve hour shift nurses, especially those working night shift, has long been recognized as an issue. Fatigue increases with age of nurses.