A study published December 1 in the journal Sleep suggests that nurses who work extended shifts, are tired on the job and obtain less sleep are more likely to drive drowsy, increasing their risk for motor vehicle accidents, United Press International reports.
To evaluate nurse sleep patterns and the resulting safety risks, researchers from Grand Valley State University in Grand Rapids, Mich., studied data from 895 full-time hospital staff R.N.s. Participants completed daily logs over four weeks, recording their work hours, sleep duration, drowsy and sleep episodes at work, and drowsy driving occurrences. During the study period, nearly 67 percent of nurses reported at least one drowsy driving incident, and 3 percent reported drowsy driving after every shift. The risk of drowsy driving and near or actual motor vehicle accidents nearly doubled when nurses drove following shifts longer than 12.5 hours. The majority of the 281 near or actual car crashes recorded during the study occurred following these extended shifts.
Working at night also significantly increased drowsy driving risk, with 79.5 percent of night-shift nurses reporting at least one such incident. In addition, nearly two-thirds of participants reported difficulty staying awake at work at least once during the study period, and 16.9 percent of nurses actually fell asleep at least once during a shift. Nurses who experienced such on-the-job fatigue had nearly triple the risk of experiencing drowsy driving.
The researchers note that, despite recommendations suggesting seven to eight hours of sleep, only 20.8 percent of participants reported sleeping for at least six hours before each shift. They add that nurses’ risk of drowsy driving increased by 9 percent for each hour of sleep lost. In light of the findings, the authors recommend that hospitals pay greater attention to nurse fatigue and implement strategies to prevent drowsy driving to protect the safety of nurses and the public.
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