Nurses and their long working hours
Hernandez 1
Wendy Hernandez
Instructor Crawley
English 112
16 March 2014
Nurses and their Long Working Hours A twelve-hour shift registered nurse has problems to perform her job and being awake. After all a twelve-hour shift is a hard task to do due to the fatigue of the nurse from previous twelve-hour shifts. Twelve-hour shift nurses could potentially put in risk the lives of the patients and themselves. The lack of sleep can interfere with the provided care of the nurses towards the patients. Fatigue can also interfere with the nurses performing their job. Also, twelve-hour shifts, fatigue, and the lack of sleep can be dangerous for the health of the nurses. “.... Many nurses choose to work several 12h shifts in a row to accrue a string of consecutive off days” (Geiger- Brown et al. 2). Therefore, twelve-hour shifts make nurses to fall behind on their sleep time. The lack of sleep, fatigue, and an increase in sleepiness declines the neurobehavioral performance in nurses. “Controlled laboratory studies have demonstrated that when reduced time in bed continues over multiple nights, there is progressive neurobehavioral impairment for each night of sleep restriction” (Geiger-Brown et al. 2). Therefore, sleep time is very important in order for the nurses to perform their job well. Having thirty minute breaks every two hours would potentially help the nurses relax better. This solution is not the best because in total there would be three hours of break during a twelve-hour shift. In those three hours the nurses would not be able to be there for the patients if the patients would need something. Yes, the nurses would relax somewhat with these breaks but would not be able to check onthe patients. Also, letting the nurses choose their on schedules would be good for them but not for the hospital and patients. This solution is not a really good solution due to the fact that most nurses would only choose to work one or two days an the nurses that need
Wendy Hernandez
Instructor Crawley
English 112
16 March 2014
Nurses and their Long Working Hours A twelve-hour shift registered nurse has problems to perform her job and being awake. After all a twelve-hour shift is a hard task to do due to the fatigue of the nurse from previous twelve-hour shifts. Twelve-hour shift nurses could potentially put in risk the lives of the patients and themselves. The lack of sleep can interfere with the provided care of the nurses towards the patients. Fatigue can also interfere with the nurses performing their job. Also, twelve-hour shifts, fatigue, and the lack of sleep can be dangerous for the health of the nurses. “.... Many nurses choose to work several 12h shifts in a row to accrue a string of consecutive off days” (Geiger- Brown et al. 2). Therefore, twelve-hour shifts make nurses to fall behind on their sleep time. The lack of sleep, fatigue, and an increase in sleepiness declines the neurobehavioral performance in nurses. “Controlled laboratory studies have demonstrated that when reduced time in bed continues over multiple nights, there is progressive neurobehavioral impairment for each night of sleep restriction” (Geiger-Brown et al. 2). Therefore, sleep time is very important in order for the nurses to perform their job well. Having thirty minute breaks every two hours would potentially help the nurses relax better. This solution is not the best because in total there would be three hours of break during a twelve-hour shift. In those three hours the nurses would not be able to be there for the patients if the patients would need something. Yes, the nurses would relax somewhat with these breaks but would not be able to check onthe patients. Also, letting the nurses choose their on schedules would be good for them but not for the hospital and patients. This solution is not a really good solution due to the fact that most nurses would only choose to work one or two days an the nurses that need
Cited: Barker, Linsey M., and Maury A. Nussbaum. “Fatigue, performance and the work environment: a survey of registered nurses.” Original Research. 18 Dec. 2010. Web. 10 Mar. 2014. Brown, Jeanne Geiger, et al. “Sleep, Sleepiness, Fatigue, and Performance of 12-Hour Shift Nurses.” Work and Health Research Center. Web. 10 Mar. 2014. “Nursing Overtime: Why, How Much, and Under What Working Conditions?” Nursing Economic$ 30.2 (Mar.-April 2012). Web. 10 Mar. 2014.