Effects of a 12-hour shift on mood states and sleepiness of Neonatal Intensive Care Unit nurses

Accuracy of Electronic Health Record Documentation of Parental Presence: A Data Validation and Quality Improvement Analysis

Parental presence in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) is known to improve the health outcomes of an admitted infant. The use of the electronic health record (EHR) to analyze associations between parental presence and sociodemographic factors could provide important insights to families at greatest risk for limited presence during their infant's NICU stay, but there is little evidence about the accuracy of nonvital clinical measures such as parental presence in these datasets. A data validation study was conducted comparing the percentage agreement of an observational log of parental presence to the EHR documentation. Overall, high accuracy values were found when combining two methods of documentation. Additional stratification using a more specific measure, each chart's complete accuracy, instead of overall accuracy, revealed that night shift documentation was more accurate than day shift documentation (76.3% accurate during night shifts, 55.2% accurate during day shifts) and that flowsheet (FS) recordings were more accurate than the free-text plan of care (POC) notes (82.4% accurate for FS, 75.1% accurate for POC notes). This research provides a preliminary look at the accuracy of EHR documentation of nonclinical factors and can serve as a methodological roadmap for other researchers who intend to use EHR data.

Sleep analysis of hospital and out-of-hospital emergency professionals

INTRODUCTION

Sleep deprivation is associated with poorer cognitive functioning and a greater risk of serious diseases. Herein, we analyzed differences in the quality of sleep and excessive daytime sleepiness between hospital emergency services and out-of-hospital emergencies services, and investigated its association with sociodemographic and labor variables.

METHOD

This is a cross-sectional observational study carried out between April 2019 and February 2020, including healthcare professionals from different emergency departments, who were evaluated through the following instruments: "Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index" and "Epworth Sleepiness Scale".

RESULTS

Four-hundred and four healthcare professionals were included (mean age 40.4 ± 11.1 years), predominantly women (61.4%) from hospital emergency departments (62.6%). A total of 65.3% of the workers had poor sleep quality and 27.7% had excessive sleepiness. Women had poorer sleep quality (p = 0.022) and higher sleepiness (p = 0.010) than men. Hospital emergency workers presented 2-fold increased risk of poor sleep quality (OR = 1.93, p = 0.003) and sleepiness (OR = 1.93, p = 0.009) than out-of-hospital emergency workers. The more optimistic were less likely to have poor sleep quality (OR = 0.73, p = 0.01) or sleepiness (OR = 0.70, p = 0.002). Nurses, emergency medical technicians and nursing assistants also had a higher risk of poor sleep quality compared to physicians (OR = 1.60; p = 0.043).

CONCLUSIONS

Emergency healthcare professionals working in hospital emergency departments had a two-times higher risk of poor sleep quality and sleepiness than out-of-hospital emergency healthcare professionals.

Testing the Psychometric Properties of an Arabic Version of the Brunel Mood Scale among Physical Education Students

In our study, we translated and tested the psychometric properties of an Arabic version of the Brunel Mood Scale (BRUMS), referred to as the Arabic Mood Scale (ARAMS), among physical education university students. A total of 681 participants completed the ARAMS in exploratory and confirmatory phases. Exploratory analyses were conducted on data from 253 students between the ages of 19 and 25 years (M = 21.14 ± 1.65 years) of whom 132 were women (52.2%) and 121 were men (47.8%). Confirmatory analyses were conducted on data from 428 students between the ages of 19 and 25 years (M = 20.93 ± 1.55 years) of whom 203 were women (52.6%) and 225 were men (47.4%). The measurement model of the ARAMS was initially evaluated using exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and was subsequently tested via confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). EFA identified a 24-item, 6-factor structure that aligned with the original BRUMS measurement model, and CFA demonstrated congruence between the two models. Internal consistency of the six subscales exceeded adequacy levels with good Cronbach's alpha and McDonald's Omega values respectively for anger (0.811; 0.812), confusion (0.830; 0.830), depression (0.858; 0.859), fatigue (0.823; 0.825), and tension (0.824; 0.825), and an acceptable value for vigor (0.749; 0.748). Findings support the factorial validity and internal consistency of the ARAMS, which appears to be a suitable measure for use in Arabic physical education contexts. Further validation studies are required before the ARAMS is used in other Arabic-language contexts.

Nurses' perceptions of caring activities in nursing

Aim

This study aimed to determine nurses' perceptions of caring activities in nursing.

Design

A descriptive study design.

Methods

A Turkish translation of the 25-item version of the Caring Dimensions Inventory was completed by 260 nurses working in one university hospital. Data were analysed using Mokken scaling.

Results

Technical aspects of nursing were highly endorsed items such as "observing the effects of a medication on a patient, measuring vital signs, being technically competent with a clinical procedure, consulting with the doctor" except for the item "providing privacy for a patient" which is a psychosocial item. The range of items included in the Mokken scale with "providing privacy for a patient" (mean = 4.31) as the most endorsed, and "exploring the patient's lifestyle" (mean = 2.60) being the least endorsed item. Listening to patients and involving them in their care are not considered as caring.

A quasi-experimental study into the effects of naps and therapy glasses on fatigue and well-being

Aim

To investigate the effects of a napping facility and therapy glasses on fatigue and well‐being at the end of the night shift.

Background

Night shift work has adverse effects on fatigue and well‐being.

Methods

A quasi‐experimental study was conducted, and data were collected on 243 night shifts of 95 nurses who had either access to a napping facility, therapy glasses, both facilities or no facilities. Multilevel analyses were conducted to predict fatigue and well‐being.

Results

Night shifts of nurses having access to both facilities were associated with less fatigue and more well‐being. The use of therapy glasses related negatively to fatigue and positively to well‐being. The use of the napping facility was not associated with fatigue and well‐being. However, having slept while napping and sleeping time during napping were negatively associated with fatigue and positively associated with well‐being.

Conclusion

Therapy glasses and sleeping in a napping facility can be effective interventions in reducing the adverse effects of night shift work.

Implications for Nursing Management

Therapy glasses seem an effective investment to facilitate the well‐being of nurses. To enhance sleeping during napping, it is worthwhile to let nurses get accustomed to the napping facility and customize settings to personal preferences.

Impact of morning and rotational duties on physical health of nurses working in tertiary care hospitals of Karachi

Background & Objectives:

In the system related to health care, shifting duties are considered essential and obligatory to make sure the stability of care in hospitals. Scheduling and shifting are the key uniqueness of shift work and nurses are mostly bounded into different schedules that facilitate 24-hour care. Our objective was to identify the impact of morning and rotational duties on physical health of nurses working in tertiary care hospitals.

Methods:

A total of 154 nurses from two tertiary care hospitals in Karachi were included in this study. Data were collected through the Short Form Health Servay-26 between May to June 2017. Questionnaire form consisted of five domains including Physical functioning, Role limitations due to physical health, Energy/Fatigue, Pain and General health.

Results:

Most of the study participants were staff nurses (66.9%) and few were head nurse and assistant head nurses 13.6% and 8.4% respectively. Nurses’ characteristics such as gender, age, educational level, designation and monthly income were found significant with duty shift with p-values 0.049, 0.007, <0.001 and 0.017 respectively. Energy/Fatigue was only domain of SF-26 which showed significant mean difference (p-value <0.001) between morning and rotational duties.

Conclusion:

This research concludes that nurses working in rotational duties were more prone to develop physical problem as compared to morning duties. Energy/Fatigue showed significant mean difference.

Assessing and managing the shift work disorder in healthcare workers

Background:

Shift work disorder (SWD) is a major concern for both healthcare workers (HCWs) employed in hospital wards and healthcare organizations. The consequences of SWD may lead to increased service costs and lower standards of care.

Objectives:

To identify and evaluate the latest developments in assessing and managing the occupational risk of SWD in shift-HCWs through a search of the literature published in the last five years.

Methods:

We performed a search of the literature starting from June 2012, using MEDLINE/Pubmed. The articles were reviewed and categorized into one or more of the following categories based on their subject matter: Risk assessment, Risk management, Occurrence rates.

Results:

A total of 25 publications matched the inclusion criteria. The topics discussed, in order of frequency (from the highest to the lowest), were: “Risk Assessment” (84%), “Occurrence Rates” (64%) and “Risk Management” (48%). Number of nights worked per year, long night-time working hours, frequent missing of nap opportunities during night-shift, quick returns and unhealthy workplace were found as organizational determinants of SWD that should be prioritized in the risk assessment of shift work in the healthcare sector.

Conclusions:

Organizational interventions targeted on both healthy shift-work scheduling and improvement of the workplace safety are proposed to moderate the occurrence of SWD and, consequently, to ensure HCWs’ wellness and suitable standards of patient care. Further studies aimed to investigate the effectiveness of such interventions in minimizing SWD occurrence are needed.