Strain and health implications of nurses’ shift work

• Authors: Alessandra Buja , Alessandra Zampieron , Giuseppe Mastrangelo , Marco Petean , Angela Vinelli , Diana Cerne , Vincenzo Baldo

Abstracts

EN

Objectives: The study investigated whether nurses' different working schedules are associated with different levels of job-relatd strain, health symptoms and behavior. No reports have been accessible in the relevant literature on the possible association between shift work and job-related strain in nurses. Materials and Methods: This was a cross-sectional study conducted at a large university hospital in North-East Italy, involving 806 nurses working in selected departments. A multilevel logistic regression was applied to assess the association between work shift conditions and selected outcomes. Results: Night shifts were associated not only with higher odds of having a high Job Demand, but also with lower odds of having a high Decision Authority and consequently with a stronger likelihood of having higher levels of Job Strain (high Job Demand score≥ 38 and Low Decision Authority). The night shift was associated with various symptoms, particularly exhaustion (p = 0.039) and gastric pain (p = 0.020). Nurses' working schedules did not affect their job satisfaction scores. Conclusions: It has been confirmed that night shifts are a risk factor for nurses' health perception and working night shifts carries a considerable degree of strain. This is a condition that hospital nursing managements need to consider carefully to avoid burnout in nursing personnel and prevent an excessive turnover in this profession, which is a recurring problem for health care organizations.

Keywords

EN

job strain; stress; Job Content Questionnaire; nursing

• Publisher: Instytut Medycyny Pracy im. prof. dra Jerzego Nofera w Łodzi
• Journal: International Journal of Occupational Medicine and Environmental Health
• Year: 2013
• Volume: 26
• Issue: 4
• Pages: 511-521

Dates

published

2013

Contributors

author

Alessandra Buja

• Department of Molecular Medicine, Laboratory of Public Health and Population Studies, Padua University, Padua, Italy

author

Alessandra Zampieron

• School of Pediatrics Nursing, Padua University Hospital, Padua, Italy

author

Giuseppe Mastrangelo

• Department of Molecular Medicine, Laboratory of Public Health and Population Studies, Padua University, Padua, Italy

author

Marco Petean

• Home Care Service, Local Health Unit No. 4, Medio Friuli, Udine, Italy

author

Angela Vinelli

• School of Specialization in Hygiene and Preventive Medicine, Padua University, Padua, Italy

author

Diana Cerne

• Local Health Unit No. 2, Isontina, Gorizia, Italy

author

Vincenzo Baldo

• Department of Molecular Medicine, Laboratory of Public Health and Population Studies, Padua University, Padua, Italy

Identifiers

DOI

10.2478/s13382-013-0122-2

Biblioteka Nauki

2179117