Work-Related Fatigue Factors among Hospital Nurses: An Integrative Literature Review

Abstract

Background: Due to the demanding nature of nurses’ work and the current shortage of nurses, hospital nurses often find themselves working extra shifts, extended hours, and taking on more responsibilities. However, this added pressure on the body and mind results in fatigue which adversely affects nurses' health status as well as their ability to provide optimal health care procedures. Preventing fatigue and reducing its adverse consequences requires comprehensive awareness about its diverse contributing factors.Purpose: Examine factors that influence fatigue among nurses employed in a hospital setting.Methods: An integrative review to assess the quality of the research evidence, to find minor and major gaps in current research and the main issues in the area of the research and finally to bridge the research gaps. This integrative review identified a total of 12 relevant research studies from Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), Medline, Embase, PsycINFO, and a manual search were used in this review. Data were reviewed in May 2017, using an integrative review then interpreted, analyzed and synthesized to identify key contributing factors that influence fatigue among hospital nurses.Results: The 12 studies in this review revealed that significant factors such as organizational factors, nursing work characteristics, psychosocial factors as well as individual characteristics and demand influence nurse fatigue. Work shifts, specifically night- shifts and extended work shifts without sufficient inter-shift recovery were linked to higher levels of fatigue.Conclusion: This review identified the significant associations between work schedules, work environments, demographics and fatigue among nurses in hospital settings located in various countries all around the world.Impact: Increased physical and psychological job demands combined with the lack of social support at work leads to a heightened degree of job dissatisfaction, which results in acute and chronic fatigue. Findings from this study may help healthcare organizations and policymaker to introduce strategies that mitigate fatigue among nurses in hospital settings.

Work-Related Accumulated Fatigue among Doctors in Tertiary Hospitals: A Cross-Sectional Survey in Six Provinces of China

“…Studies about the role of home duties on work-related fatigue generated mixed results [28]. While some claimed that household work and a higher level of family commitment such as care for children can exacerbate fatigue [5,30], others argued that family support can aid the recovery of work-related fatigue [56].…”

“…Extensive studies have been conducted about the role of long working hours and shift length in work-related fatigue. Sleep deprivation, physical exhaustion, and circadian rhythm disruption are considered as major contributors to work-related fatigue [27,28]. Work-related fatigue is also believed to be associated with many individual factors such as age, anxiety, caffeine intake, sleep patterns, and a recent life event [29].…”

“…Consumer pressure can add further stress to health workers [32]. A recent systematic literature review extracted five psychosocial variables associated with chronic fatigue: decision latitude, job stress, self-rated health, trust in management, and work-family conflict [28]. Those who have high levels of internal impetus (joy and pleasure) from work are less likely to report work-related fatigue [31].…”

“…Empirical evidence is lacking regarding major harms as a result of work-related fatigue such as mortality or significant morbidity [27,33]. Most existing studies were conducted on nurses [28]. Scant literature exists regarding the influence of working environment (both physical and social) on fatigue [29].…”

Commentary: Factors correlating with prolonged fatigue among emergency department nurses

“…The factors influencing fatigue are culturally and contextually dependent. They also depend on the role of professional nursing in the multi-professional working environment (Alahmadi and Alharbi, 2018; Taylor and Barling, 2004). According to the authors, there is a lack of studies examining fatigue in the context of the nursing work environment in Jordan hospitals.…”