Shiftwork and occupational injury rates: Nursing staff in an Australian hospital

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Title: Shiftwork and occupational injury rates: Nursing staff in an Australian hospital
Author/Creator: Hardman, L M | Wise, V L | Greenwood, Ken
Description: An audit was conducted of 109 occupational injury/incident reports submitted by nurses over 10 months at the Repatriation General Hospital, Heidelberg, Victoria. Accident/injury rates were found to be higher during the day than the afternoon and night shifts, but did not differ significantly between the shifts when the rates were adjusted for the number of staff working on the shifts. Nor did the rates differ depending on the work schedule of the nurse. Accident/injury rates were found to be significantly higher during the first few days of a consecutive period of shifts and in workers who worked fewer days per fortnight. These results suggest that fatigue and sleep debt increasing over a series of shifts is not a major cause of accidents/injuries but that there may be some cost of re-familiarisation to the ward which places nurses at increased risk after a period of absence.
Relation: Journal of Occupational Health and Safety - Australia and New Zealand / Vol. 7, No. 6, pp.483-488
Relation: http://www.wolterskluwer.cch.com.au/employment-whs/journalhse
Year: 1991
Publisher: Routledge
Subject: FoR 1103 (Clinical Sciences) | adult | article | Australia | circadian rhythm | controlled study | hospital personnel | human | injury | needlestick injury | night work | nurse | occupational accident | shift worker

Resource Type: Journal Article
Identifier: ISSN: 0185-6409
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