Nurses Long Work Hours, Scheduling Can Increase Patient Mortality

A new study has found that patient deaths from pneumonia and acute myocardial infarction were significantly more likely in hospitals where nurses reported schedules with long work hours. The finding was just one of several revelations from a study of nurses' work schedules, patient outcomes, and staffing led by University of Maryland School of Nursing researchers in collaboration with researchers at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

The study is the latest in ongoing research on nurse scheduling and staffing funded by the National Council of State Boards of Nursing. In the current study, Alison Trinkoff, ScD, MPH, RN, FAAN, professor at the School, and co-authors Meg Johantgen, PhD, RN; Carla Storr, PhD, MPH, RN; Yulan Liang, PhD; Ayse Gurses, PhD;and Kihye Han, MD, RN shifted their focus from the effects on nurses in previous studies to patient well-being.

The team linked patient outcome and staffing information from 71 acute-care hospitals in two representative states (Illinois and North Carolina) with the survey responses of 633 randomly selected nurses who worked in these hospitals. Their findings are published in "Nurses' Work Schedule Characteristics, Nurse Staffing, and Patient Mortality," in the January/February issue of the journal Nursing Research. Most U.S. hospitals use 12-hour nursing shifts exclusively, as opposed to eight-hour shifts, a trend begun during nursing shortages nationwide in the 1980s. "Although many nurses like these schedules because of the compressed nature of the workweek, the long schedule?as well as shift work in general?lead to sleep deprivation," says Trinkoff.

via infectioncontroltoday.com

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Where are the Nurses Mr. President? Nobody Cares.

To the President of the United States from the Yoga Nurse:

Dear Mr. President,

May I be so bold to tell you in my not-so humble opinion the answer to your question, “Where are the nurses?”  Elementary dear Watson.  Nobody wants the job.  why not? because … “This Job is Killing Me.”

As an advocate for nurses, I currently teach meditation, natural stress relief techniques and medical yoga to nurses and nursing organizations through out the country to help them with morale and wellness on the job.  Shockingly, I often hear nurses say these exact words to me: “This job is killing me and I’d kill to get off the floor.” It shocked me because I too said those very words at times in my nursing career, but never out loud, and only to myself.  These words are engraved in my psyche as the global lament of way too many nurses.  Never mind what country, color, religion or background of the nurse, (I have worked in Canada and the USA) it is the same story and not a pretty one.

Why is this job killing me? There are endless reasons why nurses are “dying” from their work and why the job is literally making them sick.  Just a few examples that you can surely relate to: Insufficient staffing, overwork, impossibly long shifts, endless charting, little time for patient care, working with inexperienced nurses, burnt out nurses, slackers, disrespect, conflicts between nurses, nurses and doctors, managers, management, lawsuits and liability, being abused by patients i.e. hitting, biting, scratching, punching, yelling, poor health issues, obesity because the only reward is eating…that is, if you get the chance on any given shift, accusations of improper care, etc. etc. etc… (Your turn, fill in the blanks____. _____. _____.). Enough already, you get the idea.

via yoganurse.com

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Are 12-hour shifts safe? Donna Cardillo, MA, RN - American Nurse Today

Are 12-hour shifts safe?

Donna Cardillo, MA, RN

 

12-hour shifts have become the norm in hospitals and most nurses love them. One can work 3 days and have 4 days off, there is one less major shift change to contend with, and patients have fewer names and faces to get acclimated to in a 24-hour period. It all makes sense on the surface.

 

But is working 12 consecutive hours in a fast-paced, high stress, physically and mentally demanding environment a good idea? Does it support the clear judgment, quick thinking and reflexes, and life and death decisions that we must make in the acute care setting?

 

I know a few nurses who do three 12-hour shifts a week, at least two of the shifts on two consecutive days. Some nurses do three consecutive 12s. Factor in commuting time, shift transition (it can sometimes take 1-2 extra hours to actually finish up), time to get ready for work—never mind making time (if at all) for family or self and they’re lucky to get 5-6 hours of sleep if that. Compound that with the fact that many nurses no longer take meal breaks or even short breaks during their shift to rest and refresh because they believe they don’t have the time or they don’t make the time. This is a recipe for disaster. 

via americannursetoday.com

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