The University of Southampton
University of Southampton Institutional Repository

The important factors nurses consider when choosing shift patterns: a cross-sectional study

The important factors nurses consider when choosing shift patterns: a cross-sectional study
The important factors nurses consider when choosing shift patterns: a cross-sectional study

Aim: To gain a deeper understanding of what is important to nurses when thinking about shift patterns and the organisation of working time. Design: A cross-sectional survey of nursing staff working across the UK and Ireland collected quantitative and qualitative responses. Methods: We recruited from two National Health Service Trusts and through an open call via trade union membership, online/print nursing profession magazines and social media. Worked versus preferred shift length/pattern, satisfaction and choice over shift patterns and nurses' views on aspects related to work and life (when working short, long, rotating shifts) were analysed with comparisons of proportions of agreement and crosstabulation. Qualitative responses on important factors related to shift preferences were analysed with inductive thematic analysis. Results: Eight hundred and seventy-three survey responses were collected. When nurses worked long shifts and rotating shifts, lower proportions reported being satisfied with their shifts and working their preferred shift length and pattern. Limited advantages were realised when comparing different shift types; however, respondents more frequently associated ‘low travel costs’ and ‘better ability to do paid overtime’ with long shifts and ‘healthy diet/exercise’ with short shifts; aspects related to rotating shifts often had the lowest proportions of agreement. In the qualitative analysis, three themes were developed: ‘When I want to work’, ‘Impacts to my life outside work’ and ‘Improving my work environment’. Reasons for nurses' shift preferences were frequently related to nurses' priorities outside of work, highlighting the importance of organising schedules that support a good work-life balance. Relevance to Clinical Practice: General scheduling practices like adhering to existing shift work guidelines, using consistent and predictable shift patterns and facilitating flexibility over working time were identified by nurses as enablers for their preferences and priorities. These practices warrant meaningful consideration when establishing safe and efficient nurse rosters. Patient or Public Contribution: This survey was developed and tested with a diverse group of stakeholders, including nursing staff, patients, union leads and ward managers. Reporting Method: The Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies (STROBE) checklist for cross-sectional studies was used to guide reporting.

flexible working, nursing, preferences, rostering, scheduling, shift work, working patterns
0962-1067
998-1011
Emmanuel, Talia
1a555084-a987-4fab-bebb-efabe338f244
Griffiths, Peter
ac7afec1-7d72-4b83-b016-3a43e245265b
Lamas-Fernandez, Carlos
e96b5deb-74d5-4c9b-a0ce-448c99526b09
Ejebu, Ourega-Zoé
4f545ae3-4823-44ab-8d59-185d30929ada
Dall'Ora, Chiara
4501b172-005c-4fad-86da-2d63978ffdfd
Emmanuel, Talia
1a555084-a987-4fab-bebb-efabe338f244
Griffiths, Peter
ac7afec1-7d72-4b83-b016-3a43e245265b
Lamas-Fernandez, Carlos
e96b5deb-74d5-4c9b-a0ce-448c99526b09
Ejebu, Ourega-Zoé
4f545ae3-4823-44ab-8d59-185d30929ada
Dall'Ora, Chiara
4501b172-005c-4fad-86da-2d63978ffdfd

Emmanuel, Talia, Griffiths, Peter, Lamas-Fernandez, Carlos, Ejebu, Ourega-Zoé and Dall'Ora, Chiara (2024) The important factors nurses consider when choosing shift patterns: a cross-sectional study. Journal of Clinical Nursing, 33 (3), 998-1011. (doi:10.1111/jocn.16974).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Aim: To gain a deeper understanding of what is important to nurses when thinking about shift patterns and the organisation of working time. Design: A cross-sectional survey of nursing staff working across the UK and Ireland collected quantitative and qualitative responses. Methods: We recruited from two National Health Service Trusts and through an open call via trade union membership, online/print nursing profession magazines and social media. Worked versus preferred shift length/pattern, satisfaction and choice over shift patterns and nurses' views on aspects related to work and life (when working short, long, rotating shifts) were analysed with comparisons of proportions of agreement and crosstabulation. Qualitative responses on important factors related to shift preferences were analysed with inductive thematic analysis. Results: Eight hundred and seventy-three survey responses were collected. When nurses worked long shifts and rotating shifts, lower proportions reported being satisfied with their shifts and working their preferred shift length and pattern. Limited advantages were realised when comparing different shift types; however, respondents more frequently associated ‘low travel costs’ and ‘better ability to do paid overtime’ with long shifts and ‘healthy diet/exercise’ with short shifts; aspects related to rotating shifts often had the lowest proportions of agreement. In the qualitative analysis, three themes were developed: ‘When I want to work’, ‘Impacts to my life outside work’ and ‘Improving my work environment’. Reasons for nurses' shift preferences were frequently related to nurses' priorities outside of work, highlighting the importance of organising schedules that support a good work-life balance. Relevance to Clinical Practice: General scheduling practices like adhering to existing shift work guidelines, using consistent and predictable shift patterns and facilitating flexibility over working time were identified by nurses as enablers for their preferences and priorities. These practices warrant meaningful consideration when establishing safe and efficient nurse rosters. Patient or Public Contribution: This survey was developed and tested with a diverse group of stakeholders, including nursing staff, patients, union leads and ward managers. Reporting Method: The Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies (STROBE) checklist for cross-sectional studies was used to guide reporting.

Text
AAM - Nurses' Shift Preferences (08Dec2023) - Accepted Manuscript
Available under License Creative Commons Attribution.
Download (539kB)
Text
Journal of Clinical Nursing - 2023 - Emmanuel - The important factors nurses consider when choosing shift patterns A - Version of Record
Available under License Creative Commons Attribution.
Download (4MB)

More information

Accepted/In Press date: 8 December 2023
e-pub ahead of print date: 27 December 2023
Published date: March 2024
Keywords: flexible working, nursing, preferences, rostering, scheduling, shift work, working patterns

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 485846
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/485846
ISSN: 0962-1067
PURE UUID: 44d74486-63de-45a1-978a-7d9a80a21edb
ORCID for Talia Emmanuel: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0001-5595-685X
ORCID for Peter Griffiths: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0003-2439-2857
ORCID for Carlos Lamas-Fernandez: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0001-5329-7619
ORCID for Ourega-Zoé Ejebu: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0003-0608-5124
ORCID for Chiara Dall'Ora: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-6858-3535

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 20 Dec 2023 17:38
Last modified: 15 Aug 2024 04:01

Export record

Altmetrics

Contributors

Author: Talia Emmanuel ORCID iD
Author: Peter Griffiths ORCID iD
Author: Carlos Lamas-Fernandez ORCID iD
Author: Chiara Dall'Ora ORCID iD

Download statistics

Downloads from ePrints over the past year. Other digital versions may also be available to download e.g. from the publisher's website.

View more statistics

Atom RSS 1.0 RSS 2.0

Contact ePrints Soton: eprints@soton.ac.uk

ePrints Soton supports OAI 2.0 with a base URL of http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/cgi/oai2

This repository has been built using EPrints software, developed at the University of Southampton, but available to everyone to use.

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue without changing your settings, we will assume that you are happy to receive cookies on the University of Southampton website.

×