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“Some would say that’s not critical for patient outcomes,” James said. Nurses working night shifts, however, experienced a decline in the quality of communication between nurse and patient. Even so, on average nurses were able to maintain safe, competent patient care. The study found that night-shift nurses got less sleep and were more fatigued by the end of their back-to-back shifts than were the day-shift nurses. The study sought to answer two questions, James said: does working consecutive 12-hour shifts affect nurse or patient safety? And, are there differences between safety among nurses working day and night shifts?
#Night shift nurses simulator#
Their driving skills were tested in a simulator in the WSU Sleep and Performance Research Center. Testing was conducted in the WSU College of Nursing’s simulation lab, where nurses were evaluated on specific patient-care skills, such as IV insertion and medication administration, and quality of patient care such as assessment, communication, and clinical judgment. Nurses were tested after three consecutive shifts, and again after three consecutive days off. Half worked consecutive 12-hour day shifts, and half worked consecutive 12-hour night shifts. The study involved 94 registered nurses who work in direct patient care in 12-hour shifts at hospitals in Spokane, Washington.
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“With nursing there’s very little monitoring and no regulations at the federal level in terms of safe work hours and consecutive shifts, compared to physicians who have had regulations of some type since the 1980s,” James said. The study was intended to look at the safety of 12-hour shifts, which are typical for hospital nurses, said lead author Lois James, associate professor and assistant dean of research at the WSU College of Nursing.
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– Working consecutive 12-hour night shifts impairs a nurse’s communication skills and driving abilities, a three-year study by researchers at Washington State University found.