What aspects of shiftwork influence off-shift well-being of healthcare workers?

Abstract

Characteristics of shiftwork schedules have implications for off-shift well-being. We examined the extent to which several shift characteristics (e.g., shift length, working Sundays) are associated with three aspects of off-shift well-being: work-to-family conflict, physical well-being, and mental wellbeing. We also investigated whether these relationships differed in four nations. The Survey of Work and Time was completed by 906 healthcare professionals located in Australia, Brazil, Croatia, and the USA. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses supported the hypothesis that shiftwork characteristics account for significant unique variance in all three measures of well-being beyond that accounted for by work and family demands, and personal characteristics. The patterns of regression weights indicated that particular shiftwork characteristics have differential relevance to indices of work-to-family conflict, physical well-being, and mental well-being. Our findings suggest that healthcare organizations should carefully consider the implications of shiftwork characteristics for off-shift well-being. Furthermore, although our findings did not indicate national differences in the nature of relationships between shift characteristics and well-being, shiftwork characteristics and demographics for healthcare professionals differ in systematic ways among nations; as such, effective solutions may be context-specific.

Exploring Factors that Affect the Well-Being of Healthcare Workers

“…Shift-work can impact on the three following aspects: the conflict between work-to-family and social life, physical well-being, and mental well-being (Barnes-Farrell et al, 2008;McVicar, 2003;Tepas et al, 2004). These aspects are particularly emphasized in cases of night shift-work (Tepas et al, 2004), with a reported higher health risk, as it produces symptoms that correspond closely to those of mild or moderate distress (McVicar, 2003).…”

“…Yildirim & D. Yildirim, 2007) highlighted the relevance of mobbing, conflicts, lack of rewards and recognition by superiors, work demands, work duration, difficulty in balancing work and family commitments, and work context factors. Other authors examined particularly interesting aspects, such as bureaucratic environments (Coates & Howe, 2015;Salmond & Ropis, 2005), the discrepancy between ideal and real work (Coates & Howe, 2015), risk of hazard and injuries related to workers' safety (Markwell & Wainer, 2009) and shift-work (Barnes-Farrell et al, 2008;McVicar, 2003;Tepas et al, 2004). Coates and Howe (2015), in terms of bureaucratic aspects, explained that instances in which staff report administrative issues as their primary concern reflect a contrasting nature of the work; this may conflict with the nurses' professional status while experiencing bureaucratic paperwork or other tasks as activities with which to recover emotional energies when they are feeling the strain of emotional labour.…”

Stress and Burnout in Canadian Midwives

“…As such, it would be fair to assume that issues in work scheduling are in fact mismatches in control as described by Maslach et al (2001) and are an antecedent of burnout, especially with regards to professional efficacy. Finally, research evidence also suggests that those employees who work non-standard hours tend to have a poorer experience of work life balance (Barnes-Farrell et al, 2008;Tausig & Fen wick, 2001). Overall, we can expect that the days midwives are not on-call to be less stressful and less intrusive to midwives' experience of work-life balance than the days midwives are on-call.…”

“…Exposure to workplace stressors may also have a significant impact on one's experience of work-life balance (e.g., Barnes-Farrell et al, 2008;Johansson, 2002).…”

Off-the-job Activities and Well-being in Healthcare Professionals

“…SWAT-Healthcare is a modifi cation of a previous international collaborative survey (Barnes-Farrell & Rumery, 2000;BarnesFarrell et al, 2002;Barnes-Farrell et al, 2008;Tepas & Barnes-Farrell, 1997). The survey included the measures of worker's satisfaction with the opportunity to carry out a variety of off-the-job activities, self ratings of different aspects of work demands, workers' ability, health, performan ce and job satisfaction.…”