No Good Night for Nurses

Nurses are struggling to remain awake during 36 per cent of shifts, a pilot survey into nurses and fatigue has found.

The University of South Australia survey found nurses reported moderate to high levels of stress on 23 per cent of shifts, physical exhaustion on 40 per cent of shifts and mental exhaustion on 36 per cent of shifts.

Nurses also reported being extremely drowsy during 11.5 per cent of trips home. There were three reports of near accidents on the way home over the month the study was conducted, from the sample group of 50 nurses from South Australia.

Australian Nursing Federation South Australia Branch senior industrial officer, Rob Bonner, said he would welcome further study into the issue.

Bonner said the structure of shifts in South Australia meant some nurses were only getting six hours sleep between shifts, which meant fatigue built up over a period of time.

"South Australia is interesting in that it is the only state that still works on eight hour night duty," Bonner said.

"This means you might have a nurse that works 2.30pm to 11pm and then starts at 7am the next day."

But he said the eight hour shift structure allowed nurses some flexibility to swap shifts, which nurses did not want to lose.

Bonner said he would like to see a study include a range of shift structures, including 10 hour and 12 hour shifts, and what difference that would make to fatigue.

"We've got to provide seven day services that balance the family and social aspects," he said.

Lead author of the study, Jill Dorian, from the Centre of Sleep Research, said the group hoped to expand the study to involve more than 1000 metropolitan and rural nurses from around the country.

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Last modified: Tuesday, 15-Nov-2005 20:37:38 EST