NURSING

Should Nurses Work 8 Or 12 Hour Shifts?



Should Nurses Work 8 Or 12 Hour Shifts?

Introduction

There are multiple possibilities for shift times for nurses. These could range from 4 to 12 hours of work. The feasibility of each of these schedules depends on what would better serve patient needs on a regular basis. For instance, it is possible that the shift start and end times occur right when the peak patient needs occur. It makes more sense to use a skeletal staff to give coverage during open hours, and when there are heavier patient demands—like afternoons on an inpatient unit when there are a lot of admissions and discharges—having additional staff scheduled with different start and end times to cover the peak times. This saves money too.4

There are limitless possibilities for other scheduling options, shifts of any length, and or different start and end times, can be used so more staff are available to cover typical peak patient use times (Richardson et al 2007). Most clinical and hospital settings, however, provide options of 8 and 12 hours shifts. An ideal nursing shift schedule has become a controversial issue in the nursing practice. This paper aims to evaluate the pros and cons of these varying nursing schedules in light of the research literature related to this subject.

Discussion

The standard nursing schedule for 8 hours shift comprise 40 hour, 5 day week. In contrast, the standard nursing schedule for 12 hours shift is a 36 hour, 3 day work week. For most nurses, a 12 hour shift is a blessing in a sense that they get an extra 'full' day off. Their nursing uniform laundry is more manageable. Furthermore, they may enjoy more time with their family and friends. Seen on the other side, however, lies the risk of stress, burnout and fatigue. With an 8 hour shift, one could argue, more nurses did 'better' and 'quality' work. Nurses who prefer working 12 hour, in contrast, do not get to pass their 'own' work to other nurses, including patient and chart information. In the beginning, a 12 hour shift might be tiring. With the passage of time, however, nurses working 12 hours show better results (Gillespie & Curzio 1996). Another benefit of 12 hours nursing is one that relates to better patient follow up. A patient feels more comfortable having to deal with 2 nurses in a day than with 3 nurses. Nurses in 8 hours shift will lead to a poor patient-nurse consistency level and poorer care.

With the benefits of 12 hour shift accompany some disadvantages. These disadvantages, in turn, call for shorter (8 hours or even lesser) shifts. In the case of older nurses, 12 hour shift is nothing less than a forced work deal. Nurses, especially over the age of 50, find it too tiresome to do 12 hour labor for some extra leisure. Additionally, nurses in this age tend to develop certain medical conditions themselves, making it difficult for them to adhere to strict quality standards ...