Research Paper On Night Shift Work

With regard to sleepiness, several studies indicated that the average of sleep duration in 1910 to 2002 have decreased from 9 to 6 hours on workdays (National sleep foundation, 2002; Groger et al., 2004). Recently, a survey study of Roger et al. (2004) shows that an American Nurses have an average of 84 minutes more sleep on non workdays. Thus, shift work suggested as a cause of sleeping disorder among nurses where they feel of sleep during the shift. Considering the contributing factors of sleepiness, the literature identified that long working hours and rotating shifts are causing sleeping disorder. In the night and rotating shifts, the nurses are rarely obtained adequate amount of sleep. In fact, the nurses experiencing less sleeping hours (1 to 4 hour) than normal sleeping (Zeisler et al.,1980). Nevertheless, insufficient sleep is a significant reason of damaging planning, decision-making, and integration of information (Krueger, 1994; Harrison and Horne, 2000). More recent studies have revealed that long hour shifts and overtime are strongly linked to the difficulties of being a wake through the shift which leads to increase the risk of making an error (Scott et al., 2006; Roger et al., 2004).

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

It is problematic that healthcare professions work rotating shifts because this impedes on the ability of the human body to function properly. Rotating shifts means that everyday their shifts are at different times and different lengths of time. The human body needs to be in line with the environment and when the sun is up the body naturally is awake and alert and during night time the body goes dormant to sleep, this is called circadian rhythm. The body has a circadian clock and when this is disrupted this can lead to depression and anxiety. This can lead to exhaustion and irritation that can cause someone to make mistakes. This can also lead to sleep debt and cause insomnia that can affect the mental alertness. Sleep allows the body to fight

The title of this study “Sleep Quality in Nurses: A Randomized Clinical Trial of Day and Night Shift Workers” appropriately portrays the information of the article. It describes the design of the study, a randomized trial, as well as the topic, sleep quality of nurses. Overall it gives a good picture of what the article includes.

A nurse’s role is to advocate for the patient, provide care to them and their families, to do no harm, to promote healthcare and to alleviate suffering (AMA, 2015). With this being said, does working the night shift increase patient care errors? The human body is regulated by the circadian rhythms that tell the body when to sleep and wake, so does this altered sleep pattern have a correlation with patient care errors? When nurses work the night shift, this natural rhythm is disrupted and can impact well-being, judgement and decision making as well as the overall health of the nurse. In the articles presented, there are several thoughts on whether or not the shift change causes decrease judgement, response time and decision making. Are nurses truly impacted by night shift or are there other variable that impact the nurse and their physical and emotional health. Are there more patient care errors on the night shift than any other shift? There are several journal articles that research this very question using Evidence-based practice and PICO.

One study found shiftworkers had twice as high a rate of ulcers as day workers did. Others have linked shiftwork with problems like heartburn, loss of appetite, diarrhea and constipation (Aanonsen 57). Few shiftworkers escape their years on rotation without experiencing at least one of those symptoms. It is because that they are not eating at traditional meal times, and eat junk food or other snacks that are quick and convenient (Aanonsen 58). Caffeine, the shiftworker's constant companion, and changing meal times from one day to the next may affect gastric secretions, aggravating digestive problems. Sleep disorders, caused by the disruption of circadian rhythm, are a common long-term health effect experienced by shiftworkers. Fatigue can also make a person more vulnerable to illness, poor job performance and sagging motivation (Tasto 26). Because of difficulties getting to sleep or staying awake, shiftworkers may be more likely to suffer from substance abuse. Some may use alcohol or sleeping pills as a tool to help them relax and get to sleep at the end of the shift. Others may find themselves using tobacco or drugs to keep themselves awake and functioning through the day. All these substances can be addictive, and can lead to other health problems such as heart attack, diabetes and elilepsy (Morgan 75). Many of these health effects, both long term and short term, are interconnected. When some or all of

Shift Work Sleep Disorder-Some people due to the job's time have to night shift. This situation will affect their sleep quality and the work schedules conflicts with the body's natural circadian rhythm and some individuals have difficulty adjusting to the change.

Job loss is often unfavorable for a multitude of reasons; loss of income, status and change in self worth. As we have seen, in Ehlers, Frank and Kupfer, social change can lead a person to losing their synchronized body rhythm. These rhythms help people to wake up in the morning, set biological clocks for food consumption and digestion and help to organize time through the day. With the loss of these rhythms there is also a disturbance of the circadian cycle. If the subject does not sense there is a need for sleep to prepare the body and mind for work, they may stay up all night. There is not only a loss of daily rhythms and restorative sleep, but we have also seen that a loss of sleep promotes the slowing of the metabolism and impaired glucose tolerance, as reported by Knutson and Cauter.

When healthcare professionals work rotating shifts, it can cause several problems with a person’s biological rhythm or cycles of behavior that occur regularly. Biological rhythm per module 4.1 (n.d.) is a cycle of behavior that occurs on a regular basis (Para. 9). This is true for all living things and a lot of biological rhythms are controlled by exposure to light. One of those regular rhythms is known as circadian rhythm, meaning a rhythm of a twenty-four-hour

The effects of long work hours, resulting in insufficient sleep have been well documented (Rogers, 2008). Insufficient sleep alone has been noted to cause cognitive problems, mood alterations, reduced job performance, reduced motivation, increased safety risks, and physiological changes (Rogers, 2008). Failure to obtain a sufficient amount of sleep is even an important contributor to medical errors (Rogers, 2008). Now think of the effects of sleep, and add in stressful work environments, short-staffing, pressure from administration, and unexpected events, we can begin to realize how patient outcomes may be greatly compromised.

Jaime Murphy Dawson, a Master of Public Health, writes about the environmental and behavioral factors that interfere with sleep. In this May 2013 edition of American Nurse Today, Dawson writes that people must control the factors that disturb their sleep. Being able to work productively and safely is attributed to healthy sleep. Nurses who are on call at night have become used to sleep interference, as working the night shift disrupts their sleep cycle. Dawson offers some tips that will achieve a healthier and better sleep. By making sleep a priority, people will be healthier and will reduce stress. If people establish a routine by relaxing at the end of the day, they will fall asleep faster and have will have a better night’s rest. Eating

More specifically, it focused on those new to working night shifts and those who have worked that shift for several years. (Saksvik-Lehouillier, 2012, p.1136) The study went into detail about how each group could tolerate the shift work. Especially since working shifts can be related to many different negative health consequences. Some negative consequences could be anxiety, depression, insomnia and fatigue. In conclusion it explains how there is no difference between the groups toleration but rather that there are ways to improve the tolerance. Especially since there is some correlation between the negative effects and working a night shift. Some of the ways include, applying personality tests, couselling about the occupation and educating. (Saksvik-Lehouillier, 2012, p.1144)

Many individuals in our society struggle from lack of sleep from various different problems. In order to understand the reason why this is a problem I examined the circadian clock and how Melatonin fits in the natural “day/night” cycle and affects human sleeping patterns. Various studies using individuals with either insomnia, stressed college students or a history of sleep disorders measured the initial sleep disturbance patterns. The researchers performed double blind studies with both placebo and Melatonin in order to determine whether an external source of Melatonin helped with sleeping patterns to follow

The fatigue associated with working the night shift was brought into the spotlight after an aircraft incident that occurred on June 10, 1990. British Airways flight 5390 had just departed from Birmingham International Airport when the aircraft experienced a rapid pressure loss due to the pilot’s windshield blowing out of the aircraft. This resulted in the pilot being sucked halfway out of the aircraft and another flight crew member grabbing the pilots belt and holding him from being sucked completely out while the copilot to take control of the aircraft and land it safely at a nearby airport. The official findings of the accident investigation linked the windshield blowout to the wrong size bolts being installed. The bolts were installed early in the morning hours and the fatigued shift maintenance manager who installed them didn’t recognize that they were the wrong bolts. He thought that the countersinking on the window was unusually large (Baron, 2009). This is just one example of mistakes made on night shift due to fatigue. Fatigue is a dangerous human factor that is present in the aircraft maintenance community.

It is my opinion that shift work is another potential hazard to me as an employee in the Healthcare Industry. It is my belief that employees on nightshift work or those working irregular hours may be more susceptible to errors and accidents, mainly due to fatigue or