12‐hr shifts in nursing: Do they remove unproductive time and information loss or do they reduce education and discussion opportunities for nurses? A cross‐sectional study in 12 European countries
12‐hr shifts in nursing: Do they remove unproductive time and information loss or do they reduce education and discussion opportunities for nurses? A cross‐sectional study in 12 European countries
AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: To examine the association between registered nurses’ (referred to as “nurses” for brevity) shifts of 12 hours or more and presence of continuing educational programmes; ability to discuss patient care with other nurses; assignments that foster continuity of care; and patient care information being lost during handovers.
BACKGROUND: The introduction of long shifts (i.e. shifts of 12 hours or more) remains controversial. While there are claims of efficiency, studies have shown long shifts to be associated with adverse effects on quality of care. Efficiency claims are predicated on the assumption that long shifts reduce overlaps between shifts; these overlaps are believed to be unproductive and dangerous. However, there are potentially valuable educational and communication activities that occur during these overlaps.
DESIGN: Cross-sectional survey of 31,627 nurses within 487 hospitals in 12 European countries.
METHODS: The associations were measured through generalised linear mixed models. The study methods were compliant with the STROBE checklist.
RESULTS: When nurses worked shifts of 12 hours or more, they were less likely to report having continuing educational programmes; and time to discuss patient care with other nurses, compared to nurses working 8 hours or less. Nurses working shifts of 12 hours or more were less likely to report assignments that foster continuity of care, albeit the association was not significant. Similarly, working long shifts was associated with reports of patient care information being lost during handovers, although association was not significant.
CONCLUSION: Working shifts of 12 hours or more is associated with reduced educational activities and fewer opportunities to discuss patient care, with potential negative consequences for safe and effective care.
Dall'ora, Chiara
4501b172-005c-4fad-86da-2d63978ffdfd
Griffiths, Peter
ac7afec1-7d72-4b83-b016-3a43e245265b
Emmanuel, Talia
1a555084-a987-4fab-bebb-efabe338f244
Rafferty, Anne Marie
ffa430c1-b88e-4028-96e2-bb458cebf5d9
Ewings, Sean
326656df-c0f0-44a1-b64f-8fe9578ca18a
28 January 2020
Dall'ora, Chiara
4501b172-005c-4fad-86da-2d63978ffdfd
Griffiths, Peter
ac7afec1-7d72-4b83-b016-3a43e245265b
Emmanuel, Talia
1a555084-a987-4fab-bebb-efabe338f244
Rafferty, Anne Marie
ffa430c1-b88e-4028-96e2-bb458cebf5d9
Ewings, Sean
326656df-c0f0-44a1-b64f-8fe9578ca18a
Dall'ora, Chiara, Griffiths, Peter, Emmanuel, Talia, Rafferty, Anne Marie and Ewings, Sean
(2020)
12‐hr shifts in nursing: Do they remove unproductive time and information loss or do they reduce education and discussion opportunities for nurses? A cross‐sectional study in 12 European countries.
Journal of Clinical Nursing, 29 (1-2).
(doi:10.1111/jocn.14977).
Abstract
AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: To examine the association between registered nurses’ (referred to as “nurses” for brevity) shifts of 12 hours or more and presence of continuing educational programmes; ability to discuss patient care with other nurses; assignments that foster continuity of care; and patient care information being lost during handovers.
BACKGROUND: The introduction of long shifts (i.e. shifts of 12 hours or more) remains controversial. While there are claims of efficiency, studies have shown long shifts to be associated with adverse effects on quality of care. Efficiency claims are predicated on the assumption that long shifts reduce overlaps between shifts; these overlaps are believed to be unproductive and dangerous. However, there are potentially valuable educational and communication activities that occur during these overlaps.
DESIGN: Cross-sectional survey of 31,627 nurses within 487 hospitals in 12 European countries.
METHODS: The associations were measured through generalised linear mixed models. The study methods were compliant with the STROBE checklist.
RESULTS: When nurses worked shifts of 12 hours or more, they were less likely to report having continuing educational programmes; and time to discuss patient care with other nurses, compared to nurses working 8 hours or less. Nurses working shifts of 12 hours or more were less likely to report assignments that foster continuity of care, albeit the association was not significant. Similarly, working long shifts was associated with reports of patient care information being lost during handovers, although association was not significant.
CONCLUSION: Working shifts of 12 hours or more is associated with reduced educational activities and fewer opportunities to discuss patient care, with potential negative consequences for safe and effective care.
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12-hour shifts in nursing do they remove unproductive time and information loss or do they reduce education and discussion opportunitie
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Dall-Ora_et_al-2019-Journal_of_Clinical_Nursing
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Accepted/In Press date: 16 June 2019
e-pub ahead of print date: 26 June 2019
Published date: 28 January 2020
Additional Information:
© 2019 The Authors Journal of Clinical Nursing Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd
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Local EPrints ID: 431906
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/431906
ISSN: 0962-1067
PURE UUID: 8ae516a1-dfd7-4f82-9077-baf9cd007787
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Date deposited: 21 Jun 2019 16:30
Last modified: 16 Mar 2024 07:57
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Author:
Talia Emmanuel
Author:
Anne Marie Rafferty
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