Hospital staff nurses' work hours, meal periods, and rest breaks. A review from an occupational health nurse perspective

Details

• Personal Author:
  Dickson VV ; Witkoski A
• Description:
  Registered nurses are the largest group of health care providers in the United States. To provide 24-hour care, hospital staff nurses often work long hours and consecutive shifts, without adequate meal or rest breaks. Serious declines in functioning related to provider fatigue can lead to safety issues for patients and nurses alike. The occupational health nurse can assess the effects of nurses' work hours and break periods on employee health, educate staff on the importance of sleep and deleterious effects of fatigue, and implement programs to improve the work environment. This article examines nurses' work hours, break and meal period laws and regulations, and the role of the occupational health nurse in caring for this group of employees. Overall findings suggest that the expertise of an occupational health nurse in the hospital setting could significantly improve the health and safety of staff nurses. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Education Fatigue Health Personnel Occupational Health Safety Safety Management Shift Work Schedule Sleep Sleep Initiation And Maintenance Disorders Stress, Psychological
• Keywords:
  Health-care-personnel Job-stress Nurses Nursing Nutrition Occupational-health-nursing Rest-periods Safety-measures Shift-work Shift-workers Sleep-deprivation Work-analysis Work-intervals Work-organization Work-performance Worker-health

  More +
• ISSN:
  0891-0162
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  OSHA Region 3 ; Pennsylvania
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  489-499
• Volume:
  58
• Issue:
  11
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20038085
• Citation:
  AAOHN J 2010 Nov; 58(11):489-499
• Contact Point Address:
  Amy Witkoski, MS, RN, School of Nursing, University of Pennsylvania, Claire M. Fagin Hall, 418 Curie Blvd., Philadelphia, PA 19104
• Email:
  amywit@nursing.upenn.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2011
• Performing Organization:
  University of Pennsylvania
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20020701
• Source Full Name:
  AAOHN Journal - American Association of Occupational Health Nurses Journal
• End Date:
  20120630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:42a79c10bc6f93703580e33ecbaa293fbe75da7521a8f026256704414757b298e1ea59a81b71ffd0cd0cd793410718ea2a6cef389a07582efeb7c4903cbed465
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/191903/cdc_191903_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 144.74 KB ]