Investigating Dimensions and Impairments Caused by Shifts in Nurses Who Work in Constant Shifts

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the dimensions and conditions caused by shifts in nurses who worked in constant shifts in non-governmental selective hospitals in Tehran in 2014. In this cross-sectional and applied research, the shifts standard questionnaire was used. After confirming the validity and reliability (Cronbach’s alpha 0.73), the questionnaires were distributed among 305 nurses of 6 non-governmental selective hospitals in Tehran, based on stratified random sampling. In the research, the data analysis was conducted in two levels of descriptive and inferential statistics. The response rate was 0.91. 74.4% of the participant nurses were female and 25.6% were male. The results showed that there was a significant relationship between age and physical health (P = 0.008), gender and physical health (P = 0.015), education and health (P = 0.014), gender and physical-cognitive anxiety (P = 0.006), age and social-familial status (P = 0.001), Marital status and social-familial status (P = 0.001), having a second job and social-familial status (P = 0.001), education and sleep-fatigue (P = 0.002). Planning with respect to standards of nurses’ working hours and avoiding overtime, especially nurses who have more experience, can prevent severe complications of shifts and improve health level and ultimately the quality of care.