Registered nurses across the globe bear a heavy injury burden. Every shift, nurses are exposed to a variety of hazards that can jeopardize their health, which negatively impacts their ability to provide high-quality patient care. Previous research suggests that inexperienced, or newly licensed nurses, may have an increased risk for certain occupational injuries. However, the current knowledge base is insufficient to fully understand how work hours influence newly licensed nurses’ occupational injury, given the significant variation in hospital organization and work characteristics.
Objective:
To describe newly licensed nurses’ shift work characteristics and determine the association between shift type and scheduling characteristics and nurse injury, before and after adjusting for individual and combined effects of demographics, external context, organizational context, and work context, following the Organization of Work model.
Methods:
Descriptive statistics were calculated, followed by bivariate and multivariate Poisson regression models to assess the relationship between shift type and scheduling characteristics and nurse injury. Lastly, full models with the addition of demographics, external context, organizational context, and work context variables were calculated.
Results:
The majority (79%) of newly licensed nurses worked 12-h shifts, a near majority worked night shift (44%), and over half (61%) worked overtime (mandatory or voluntary) weekly. Nurses working weekly overtime were associated with a 32% [incidence rate ratio (IRR) 1.32, CI 1.07-1.62] increase in the risk of a needle stick and nurses working night shift were associated with a 16% [IRR 1.16, CI 1.02-1.33] increase in the risk of a sprain or strain injury.
Conclusions:
Overtime and night shift work were significantly associated with increased injury risk in newly licensed nurses independent of other work factors and demographic characteristics. The findings warrant further study given the long-term consequences of these injuries, costs associated with treatment, and loss of worker productivity.
Author(s):
Author1: Amy Witkoski-Stimpfel, College of Nursing, New York University
Author2: Carol Brewer, University of Buffalo School of Nursing
Author3: Christine T. Kovner, College of Nursing, New York University
Primary Contact Person:
Name: Amy Witkoski-Stimpfel
Email: [email protected]
Complete Citation, if published:
Stimpfel, A. W., Brewer, C. S., & Kovner, C. T. (2015). Scheduling and shift work characteristics associated with risk for occupational injury in newly licensed registered nurses: an observational study. International Journal of Nursing Studies, 52(11), 1686-1693. doi: 10.1016/j.ijnurstu.2015.06.011
