Dangerous for Patients and Nurses

Long working hours and inadequate staffing are well-documented and serious risks to patients’ safety.  As trained professionals, nurses know when they are too fatigued to safely care for patients, but too often employers ignore a nurse’s judgment.  The Institute of Medicine reports that 27 percent of hospital nurses work over 13 consecutive hours one or more times per week, increasing the risk of medical errors caused by fatigue.  Insufficient nurse staffing levels are associated with increased infections, bleeding, and cardiac and respiratory failure. 

Long working hours, mandatory overtime, and inadequate staffing also affect nurses’ health, increasing their risk of musculoskeletal injuries (MSDs—back, neck, and shoulder injuries), as well as causing hypertension, cardiovascular disease and depression.  Nurses face cumulative MSD injuries which are compounded by working too many hours without breaks and by having shifts too close together to allow their backs to heal.  Researchers are also investigating the links between cardiovascular problems and long working hours, fatigue, and stressful working conditions.    

The adverse impact of fatigue on nurses and the safe delivery of patient care are well-documented—learn more here.

Studies have shown that long working hours, past the point of fatigue, are harmful to nurses and patients—read more.