Mental Health Status, Shift Work, and Occupational Accidents among Hospital Nurses in Japan

Abstract

Mental Health Status, Shift Work, and Occupational Accidents among Hospital Nurses in Japan: Kenshu Suzuki, et al. Department of Public Health, School of Medicine, Nihon University—A questionnaire survey was conducted with questions from the 12‐item General Health Questionnaire, among others, targeting 4,407 nurses in 8 general hospitals in Japan, in the hope of improving the work environment of nurses and to provide data that will allow a discussion of the measures necessary for preventing medical errors, thus improving occupational health. For each type of accident, the percentage of those who had made medical errors was significantly higher for the “mentally in poor health” group than for the “mentally in good health” group (p<0.0001). The percentage of nurses in the “mentally in good health” and “mentally in poor health” groups who had experienced occupational accidents over the past 12 months (i.e., whether they were “with errors” or “without errors”) was calculated for each of the following four types of medical accident:(1) drug‐administration errors, (2) incorrect operation of medical equipment, (3) errors in patient identification, and (4) needlestick injuries. For each type of accident, the percentage of those who had made medical errors was significantly higher for the “mentally in poor health” group than for the “mentally in good health” group (p<0.0001). Multiple logistic regression analyses revealed significant associations between experience of medical errors in the past 12 months and being mentally in poor health, with night or irregular shift work, and age.

Depressive symptoms and self-reported occupational injury in small and medium-sized companies

“…Indeed, depressive symptoms and shift work schedules are major factors that increase the risk that hospital workers will experience accidents during their job tenure (Guastello et al 1999). In addition, a study that used GHQ-12 to examine the correlation between nurses' mental health level and their rate of occupational accidents reported that those in a poor state of mental health showed a high OR of experiencing occupational accidents (e.g., medication accidents, mistaken operation of medical machines, and injuries by needles; Suzuki et al 2004). Moreover, a recent pilot study reported that female workers who had experienced occupational injuries complained of depressive symptoms more than those who had not experienced injuries (Peele and Tollerud 2005).…”

Analysis of salivary cortisol levels to determine the association between depression level and differences in circadian rhythms of shift‐working nurses

“…Because it has various physiological influences on the immune, blood circulatory, and central nervous systems, cortisol is an important hormone to consider when determining physical and mental health 22,23) . Since salivary cortisol is highly correlated with blood cortisol level, and saliva can be sampled less invasively than blood, it is often used in studies on circadian rhythm and work-related stress 24−32) .…”

“…Night-shift nurses who work against the circadian rhythm are prone to fatigue and decreased work performance, resulting in occurrences of medi-cal accidents and errors at night 13−20) . Moreover, some studies have reported that errors and medical incidents during work by nurses with depression tend to happen particularly in the early morning 21,22) . Although it has been noted in a large number of studies that shift-working nurses are subject to depression, and that medical errors and incidents are caused by them more frequently in the early morning when they are on a night shift, the factors associated with these tendencies have not been objectively examined.…”

Serum Cortisol Level and Depression Among Shift-Working Nursing Staff in a University Hospital

“…Night-shift nurses who work against the circadian rhythm are susceptible to fatigue and decreased work performance, resulting in the occurrence of medical accidents and errors at night (Grossman, 1997 andOriyama et al, 2011). Moreover, some studies have reported that night-shift nurses are prone to depression causing errors and medical incidents during work which happen particularly in the early morning (Gold et al, 1992 andSuzuki et al, 2004).…”