RUA week 3 NR 449 1
Running head: NURSING FATIGUE AND IMPACT ON PATIENT
SAFETY
Mandatory Overtime, Nursing Fatigue and Impact on Patient Safety
Jaime Montelione
Chamberlain University: NR449 Evidence-based practice
September 2018
This study source was downloaded by 100000848900824 from CourseHero.com on 09-15-2022 01:32:33 GMT -05:00
https://www.coursehero.com/file/37118315/RUA-week-3-NR-449-docx/
, 2
NURSING FATIGUE
Mandatory Overtime, Nursing Fatigue and Impact on Patient Safety
Clinical Question
The current assignment given to the red team involve mandatory overtime, nursing fatigue and
patient safety. These are a major issue with in nursing. The predominant schedule in the current
climate of nursing according to Harris, Sims, Parr & Davies is the 12-hour shift, citing that 70%
of nurses in the United States currently work 12 hours or longer (Harris et al., 2014). The impact
of this long shift and in many cases the addition of mandatory overtime has contributed to
nursing fatigue and a decrease patient safety. Harris et al. performed a comprehensive literature
search which included, that one third of the nurses researched had detrimental physiological and
cognitive effects. These effects included rapid heart rate, and self report of increased levels of
stress, emotional exhaustion and fear of making mistakes. In addition to the hardship of working
a 12-hour shift is working more than 12 hours and mandatory overtime. From further studies,
The Joint Commission (2018), states nursing fatigue can result from an inadequate amount of
sleep or insufficient quality of sleep over a long period of time. This issue can lead to numerous
negative outcomes including but no limited to lapses in attention span, inability to stay focused
on tasks at hand, a decrease in motivation, inability to problem solve, general confusion, being
irritable to peers and patients, slowed or faulty judgment, and loss of empathy for patients (The
Joint Commission, 2018). Given all the information provided regarding nursing fatigue and
patient safety the PICOT question formulated is: In patients admitted to a medical surgical unit,
does working mandatory overtime in addition to the 12 hour shift as opposed to those working
only the 12-hour shift increase the risk of injury to nurses and patients during the mandatory
This study source was downloaded by 100000848900824 from CourseHero.com on 09-15-2022 01:32:33 GMT -05:00
https://www.coursehero.com/file/37118315/RUA-week-3-NR-449-docx/
Running head: NURSING FATIGUE AND IMPACT ON PATIENT
SAFETY
Mandatory Overtime, Nursing Fatigue and Impact on Patient Safety
Jaime Montelione
Chamberlain University: NR449 Evidence-based practice
September 2018
This study source was downloaded by 100000848900824 from CourseHero.com on 09-15-2022 01:32:33 GMT -05:00
https://www.coursehero.com/file/37118315/RUA-week-3-NR-449-docx/
, 2
NURSING FATIGUE
Mandatory Overtime, Nursing Fatigue and Impact on Patient Safety
Clinical Question
The current assignment given to the red team involve mandatory overtime, nursing fatigue and
patient safety. These are a major issue with in nursing. The predominant schedule in the current
climate of nursing according to Harris, Sims, Parr & Davies is the 12-hour shift, citing that 70%
of nurses in the United States currently work 12 hours or longer (Harris et al., 2014). The impact
of this long shift and in many cases the addition of mandatory overtime has contributed to
nursing fatigue and a decrease patient safety. Harris et al. performed a comprehensive literature
search which included, that one third of the nurses researched had detrimental physiological and
cognitive effects. These effects included rapid heart rate, and self report of increased levels of
stress, emotional exhaustion and fear of making mistakes. In addition to the hardship of working
a 12-hour shift is working more than 12 hours and mandatory overtime. From further studies,
The Joint Commission (2018), states nursing fatigue can result from an inadequate amount of
sleep or insufficient quality of sleep over a long period of time. This issue can lead to numerous
negative outcomes including but no limited to lapses in attention span, inability to stay focused
on tasks at hand, a decrease in motivation, inability to problem solve, general confusion, being
irritable to peers and patients, slowed or faulty judgment, and loss of empathy for patients (The
Joint Commission, 2018). Given all the information provided regarding nursing fatigue and
patient safety the PICOT question formulated is: In patients admitted to a medical surgical unit,
does working mandatory overtime in addition to the 12 hour shift as opposed to those working
only the 12-hour shift increase the risk of injury to nurses and patients during the mandatory
This study source was downloaded by 100000848900824 from CourseHero.com on 09-15-2022 01:32:33 GMT -05:00
https://www.coursehero.com/file/37118315/RUA-week-3-NR-449-docx/
