Nurses have been working 12-hour shifts for almost 50 years. It all started with the nursing shortage and hospitals needing fewer nurses to work more hours and has continued to be the standard of shifts for nurses. Over the years, there have been many benefits for the hospitals, nurses, and even patients. With these long hours, it can lead to many things such as nursing fatigue and other downsides that can affect everyone including the patient and public. Can does the positive out weight the negative? Are longer shifts putting the patient first and protecting the patient or putting the patient at an unnecessary added risk for injury and accident. In my current hospital, I have seen an increase in nurses who seem to always be talking about …show more content…
Caffeine also becomes a requirement for them to function. If nurses are unable to put their patient first and caffeine is needed to stay awake how safe are patients really?
In “The 12-Hour Shift” by Judy A. Rollins, she writes about how the 12-hour shift benefits the hospital because there is less overtime with the longer shifts which saves on money, not having to hire outside nurses to fill positions, and scheduling is easier because it’s only two shifts instead of three with an 8 hour shift. The 12 hours shift allows nurses to work fewer hours and fewer days a week and lets them have a life outside of the work. It offers the patient the benefit of being able to connect with the nurse and not having to change nurses as often. The study of over 22,000 nurses found that almost all were happy with their job but many also reported burnout and had plans of leaving. It also found that more of the older nurses were leaving due to the demands of the 12-hour shifts. Older nurses struggled with more injuries
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12-Hour Shifts and Nurse Fatigue” looked at 12-hour shifts compared to 8 hours and what effects fatigue from shifts can play. Some of the advantages of the longer shift for nurses is that it decreases the time the nurse spends traveling to and from the hospital, the cost for someone to watch their child because they are working fewer days; it also allows them to hold multiple jobs. It also can decrease hand-off errors as there due there only being two per 24 hours which might help to prevent errors. Other services also work more than 8 hours such as truck drivers, railroad workers, aviation, and the military. All of these have rules for the amount of time they are allowed to be working or deployed. ⁵“The Department of Transportation [DOT) and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) each regulates the duty schedules for pilots, air traffic controllers, engineers, flight attendants, air mechanics, and other employees to maintain airline safety standards and protect the crew and passengers.” Truck drivers also have a set number of hours that they are allowed to work straight before they are mandated to take a break or stop. ⁶“There is not state or federal regulation of the hours that a nurse may work, although some states have passed legislation prohibiting mandatory overtime.” Facilities continue to offer, and some require nurses to work 12-hour shifts, even though there is evidence that shows adverse outcomes for patients. A study that was conducted
Have women really experienced progress? Or has their oppression just changed in form? There is no doubt that women, overtime, have gained more power throughout society. From the first and second waves of feminism to today women have fought and won battles over political, personal, psychological and sexual aspects of female oppression. Essentially, they have experienced and continue to experience a revolution. Nevertheless, despite this acclaimed progress, women still face significant forms of oppression.
In the case of nurse staffing, the more nurses there are the better outcome of patient safety. When there enough staff to handle the number of patients, there is a better quality of care that can be provided. The nurses would be able to focus on the patients, monitor the conditions closely, performs assessments as they should, and administer medications on time. There will be a reduction in errors, patient complications, mortality, nurse fatigue and nurse burnout (Curtan, 2016). While improving patient satisfaction and nurse job satisfaction. This allows the principle of non-maleficence, do no harm, to be carried out correctly. A study mentioned in Scientific America showed that after California passed a law in 2014 to regulate hospital staffing and set a minimum of nurse to patient ratios, there was an improvement in patient care. Including lower rates of post-surgery infection, falls and other micro emergencies in hospitals (Jacobson,
In 2011 The Joint Commission called attention to healthcare worker fatigue and the impact it was having on patient safety. They found a direct link between healthcare worker fatigue and adverse events. They recommended healthcare facilities assessed their policies to identify fatigue-related risks, such as off-shift hours and consecutive shift work, and review their staffing to address areas that may be contributing to nurse fatigue (Martin, 2015).
In a hospital patients are cared for around the clock, twenty-four hours a day and seven days a week. Hospital RN schedules are set up on rotation shifts meaning you might have to work night or days, holidays, and/or weekends (“Job…”). In a doctor’s office, school, or health center regular business hours are normally maintained (“Job…”). If an RN works for a home health care agency then their routine patient visits are mostly scheduled during business hours. However, if a nurse is on call they may be paged and required to make a visit on any day, at any time.
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.
The problem, as defined for my argument research paper, is that to cut costs, hospitals have been steadily increasing the number of patients nurses must care for. In many areas it's not uncommon for one nurse to have to assess, give medications to, and manage the care of as many as 12 patients. This puts tremendous strain on nurses. Many of the studies I have seen in my research indicate that a high ration of patients to nurses increases the rate of death or other poor outcomes for patients. It also leads to increased nurse burnout and higher turnover, though at this point I believe my paper will focus on patient outcomes.
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
...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.
Some of the cons to being an RN is some of the dangers, such as being exposed to infections and disease on a daily basis (Minnesota 1). Plus, they spend a long period of time on their feet, so they are prone to back and knee injuries (American 2). Although while being an RN generally have a set schedule each week. Some work full time, or part time, but most work an average of 40 hours a week, they may work nights, weekends, and even holidays (Minnesota 1). There are also pros to being an RN such as helping the patient and their families during a rough time, while helping the patients and their families the nurses may not be able to have time to think of themselves and their own needs, which can often in times get upsetting. Another downside to being a registered nurse is seeing people dying, but having to stay positive (Minnesota
Nurses are the largest and the most trusted professional group in the health care system. They are highly educated and skilled in their areas of practice. However, today’s nurses are experiencing an ever increasing workload, which negatively impacts their ability to deliver safe patient care (Berry & Curry, 2012). This paper explores four published journals that report on survey results on nursing workload and their direct correlation with patient care outcomes. The purpose of this paper is to address the ongoing nursing workload issues and explore the reasons behind it.
...ork shifts depending on their ability. In addition, it is important for nurses to understand that it is their ethical responsibility to only practice when they are fit to do so. Moreover, nurses should take responsibility for self care and take adequate time to rest and recover after shifts. In general, nurses should be aware of their mental and physical capabilities and only work when they are well enough to do so.
...staff would not be required to put in the overtime to compensate for the lack of workers. Patients would no longer have to suffer the neglect of the staff because he or she was too busy. Making sure the patient gets the best quality care reduces the time spent for recovery. Reducing the time spent for recovery increases the organization’s finances. Providing a safe facility also reduces the expenses on the private hospital’s budget. Ensuring a patient is safe can reduce potential use of ongoing treatment and services. Hiring the appropriate nursing staff needed can save the organization money. Instead of cutting back on staff, more staff needs to be hired to fulfil the needs of the patient. In the economy today, private hospitals need to focus on the overall long term effects of each action opposed to quick reactions resulting in financial strain for the facility.
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.
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
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.