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Commentary
Nursing issues
Reduced alertness as a consequence of rotating shift patterns puts safe care delivery at risk
  1. Vittoria Sorice1,
  2. Emma Russell2
  1. 1 ED, Chesterfield Royal Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, Chesterfield, UK
  2. 2 Acute Frailty Unit, Chesterfield Royal Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, Chesterfield, UK
  1. Correspondence to Vittoria Sorice, ED, Chesterfield Royal Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, Chesterfield S44 5BL, UK; vittoria.sorice{at}nhs.net

https://doi.org/10.1136/ebnurs-2022-103518

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    Commentary on: Min A, Hong HC, Son S, et al, Alertness during working hours among eight-hour rotating-shift nurses: an observational study. J Nurs Scholar 2021;75. doi:10.1111/JNU.12743

    Implications for practice and research

    • Organisational measures to implement alertness are necessary to safeguard patient care and staff well-being.

    • Further research is needed in order to optimise shift design and develop suitable countermeasures for all shift-working healthcare professional.

    Context

    Increasing evidence suggests that shift-pattern generated fatigue in nurses can impair their ability to offer high-quality care to patients. Nevertheless, to guarantee 24-hour care, most healthcare professionals (HP) must comply with shift-working. Specifically, rotating-shifts are more likely to cause a decreased alertness and increased tiredness effect on HP due to continuous changes in their sleep patterns. As the consequences of sleep deprivation are comparable to those of blood …

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    Footnotes

    • Twitter @vittoriasor

    • Competing interests None declared.

    • Provenance and peer review Commissioned; internally peer reviewed.