Long Hours for Nurses May Be Deadly for PLong Hours for Nurses May Be Deadly for Patientsatients
Patients in hospitals where nurses work long hours are significantly more likely to die of pneumonia and heart attack, according to a new study.
Researchers surveyed 633 randomly selected nurses from acute care hospitals in Illinois and North Carolina. They found that most hospitals require 12-hour nursing shifts, a trend that began during nationwide nursing shortages in the 1980s. Long work shifts often lead to sleep deprivation, resulting in poor patient outcomes.
In this month’s journal of Nursing Research, study author Alison Trinkoff of the University of Maryland School of Nursing “Alertness, stated: “Vigilance required for providing good nursing care depend on have an adequate duration of quality sleep and rest, and long work hours can impact the quality of nursing care and can increase the potential for error.”
Long work hours may be just as harmful for nurses as it is for the patients they care for. The findings also revealed a connection between extended work schedules and nurse injury and fatigue.