Twenty-four hour care: implications for the role and developmental needs of nurses in acute and community settings

Abstract

There is a need to ensure CPD opportunities are reviewed regularly to reflect changing 24-hour service demands in all settings.

Can you see me? Experiences of nurses working night shift in Australian regional hospitals: a qualitative case study.

“…Successful professional development programmes for nurses who work nights could be expected to generate positive organizational benefits (Kelly et al . , Mayes & Schott‐Baer ). At a facility‐level, exploration of professional development needs of night nurses and development of strategies comparable to what is offered to non‐night‐shift nursing staff are warranted.…”

“…, Kelly et al . , Mayes & Schott‐Baer , Dignam et al . ); ‘concepts of night work’ or how night shift is perceived by night nurses and others (Gregory et al .…”

“…); and ‘impact of night work’ on individual nurses' health and well‐being (Hughes & Stone , Persson & Martensson , Kelly et al . , Nabe‐Nielsen et al . , Yuan et al .…”

“…A general belief supported by Kelly et al . () is that night work is easier and night nurses are less busy than day staff. Brooks and Swailes () noted that a belief exists that night nurses are less intelligent, less qualified and less committed working nights simply to ‘hold the fort’ for day staff.…”

Diurnal sedative changes during intensive care

“…Future efforts to improve protocol adherence may be focused towards nighttime ICU staff, who may be less compliant with certain ICU quality measures (46). Nighttime staff may have reduced opportunity for formal training in ICU assessments for delirium or sedation requirements (47), disrupting the link between patient needs and drug delivery. Our data provides a rationale for greater research into protocol implementation and nursing assessments of nighttime sedation practice (48).…”