Author: Afroza Tajuddin is currently enrolled in the Master of Science in Nursing from Aga Khan University School of Nursing and Midwifery in Karachi, Pakistan. Did her BScN from Dow University of Health Science, Karachi. Working as an Infection Control Nurse in Karachi's first infectious Disease Hospital (Sindh Infectious Disease Hospital and Research Center Karachi, Pakistan).
To ensure that patients receive continuous care, nurses operate in a variety of work shift schedules. According to certain studies, it is widely acknowledged that the accredited working hours last between eight to twelve hours a day. On the other hand, nurses occasionally need to work longer hours than planned. However, the topic is still debatable whether nurses should put in additional time at their shifts still exists. A study conducted by (Lin, Lin, Hsia, & Kuo, 2021) found that as patient demands fluctuate over time and staffing levels can change unexpectedly, actual shift lengths are frequently unpredictable. Because of this, nurses frequently work longer shifts than anticipated resulting in burnout and exhaustion ultimately posing a threat to the quality of patient care. Yet, if the working hours lengthen beyond normal, it won't just make the workers unhappy with their work, but also reduce their productivity, affect their bodily injury, and drive them to quit. This paper argues that should nurses work longer hours, which, therefore, have an impact on employees' overall performance in addition to patient safety and the organization's status.
A nurse will often need to work at least five days per week when working an 8-hour shift, but just three or four days per week if working a 12-hour shift. However, nurses no longer work the standard eight-hour shifts, and twelve-hour shifts are becoming more common and sometimes very alluring to nurses because it allows them to spend their day off with their families or pursue other interests. Research suggests that longer shifts allow nurses to form stronger professional bonds with their patients, which may help patients feel happier with the quality of care and treatment they receive. It aids nurses in remembering crucial information about their patients, particularly the care and treatment they offer to patients.
Long work shifts have been shown to have several negative effects on nurses' overall health, as well as their job satisfaction and employment in comparison to positives. Hence, in order to implement the necessary measures to control working hours, hospital management must be aware of how excessive working hours harm workers' social and physical wellbeing. To determine if longer shifts are useful or detrimental to their teams, hospital administrators must continuously monitor their staff and evaluate employee engagement levels. The key determinants of an employee's productivity are their health and job satisfaction, and working hours have a highly positive correlation with both. Leaders are urged to organize routine, manageable one-on-one meetings with nurses to review caseloads and determine areas in which support is required (Rhéaume & Mullen, 2018). Additionally, hospital management should focus on teaching staff members time management skills and how to balance work and family obligations because social and family relationships are crucial to one's health and happiness, which in turn affects how committed and motivated staff members are to their employer. Unfortunately, shift work is unavoidable in today's healthcare environment, but strategies could be implemented to mitigate the effects.
References
Hoedl, M., Bauer, S., & Eglseer, D. (2021). Influence of nursing staff working hours on stress levels during the COVID-19 pandemic: A cross-sectional online survey. HeilberufeScience, 12(3-4), 92-98. doi:10.1007/s16024-021-00354-y
Lin, R. T., Lin, Y. T., Hsia, Y. F., & Kuo, C. C. (2021). Long working hours and burnout in health care workers: Non-linear dose-response relationship and the effect mediated by sleeping hours-A cross-sectional study. J Occup Health, 63(1), e12228. doi:10.1002/1348-9585.12228
Liu, S., Wang, C., Jiang, Y., Ren, H., Yu, T., Cun, W., & Yang, Z. (2022). Nurse scheduling in COVID-19-designated hospitals in China: A nationwide cross-sectional survey. J Nurs Manag, 30(8), 4024-4033. doi:10.1111/jonm.13832
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