A Recent Study Found That Fatigue in Nurses Can Lead To Poor Decisions

---

Recent studies have determined that heavy schedule and the overwhelming fatigue in nurses can lead to fatal mistakes for patients. Nowadays, nurses are receiving proper training regarding the different ways they can counter tiredness during heavy shifts in order to successfully perform their duties. The so-called mistakes bear the scientific name “decision theory” or “opportunity loss.” It is more common with male nurses, whose concentration is usually more vulnerable during such moments of overwhelming work. Problems caused by fatigue in nurses can be expensive, tragic, and even career affecting.

Not Enough Sleep

Getting 6 hours of sleep, with about 2 to 3 hours less than the healthy norm, nurses tend to completely sleep through their weekends in order to recover from the heavy week. The loss of sleep causes temporary memory loss, failure to concentrate and therefore fatigue. This can damage the precious momentary ability to make an accurate decision. The lack of sleep can cause sharp changes in mood, reduced speed and reflexes, and can lead as far as the onset of depression and physical illness.

The effects of sleep deprivation can’t be detected or at least counteracted fast enough. However, one way or another, fatigue in nurses have been successfully handled in numerous ways, so sleep deprivation has become a mere irritation in the case of many nurses, rather than a critical obstacle. Most of them have trained their bodies to sleep during the weekend or they have rearranged their sleeping schedule in a way that fits their shift. Furthermore, a lot of doctors and nurses take turns between themselves and make use of their breaks in order to have regular short sleeps, counting on a trusty alarm watch to wake them up.

Extended Work Hours

The routine shift for nurses in the US is 12 hours and it has been commonly agreed by the majority of working nurses that this is a manageable shift. Regardless, there are numerous reports that such a working day involves sleeping at the work place or it has been scientifically proven that such a shift will undeniably damage the health and performance of the nurses. The problem with time management arises from emergency shifts, when nurses are called in and their hours are prolonged, since every movement outside of the already established schedule means less control.

According to a research known as the Staff Nurse Fatigue and Patient Safety Study, twenty percent of the nurses, who participated, have stated that they have been actually falling asleep during working hours. Usually, the heaviest cases of sleep deprivation and lack of efficiency at the work place takes place during the acceptance of consecutive shifts, when muscle weakness and failure to concentrate are most common with nurses. According to the recent research, accidents tend to happen after the 9th hour and they can even double in numbers every time a full shift (half a day-12 hours) passes.

Fatigue in nurses can be dealt with by adhering to a tight schedule, solid organization skills, discipline and training.