Philippine E-Journals

AN INVESTIGATIVE STUDY ON THE EFFECTS OF SHIFT WORK ON THE MEDICAL-SURGICAL NURSES OF MANILA SANITARIUM AND HOSPITAL

Jason Averia | Jacqueline Joson | Jennifer Mae Reyes | Alma Maria Jennifer Gutierrez

Discipline: Industrial Engineering

 

Abstract:

This study aimed to validate the hypothesis that rotating nurses that undergo shift work are more fatigued than nurses with permanent shift schedule. The study focused on the Medical-Surgical nurses in the Manila Sanitarium and Hospital to prove the hypothesis. The nurses were interviewed regarding their experiences as shift workers and their outlook on their working schedules and environment. Aside from interview, they were also asked to answer questionnaires regarding mental health and fatigue. They were also requested to take memory and response to stimuli test to validate the hypothesis that rotating nurses are exposed to the harmful effects to health namely reduced memory retention, slower response to stimuli and irregular sleep pattern. These series of interviews, questionnaires and test were conducted four times, once every month of April, May, July and August. The following batteries of tests were administered at 2 o'clock in the afternoon for the morning shift and around 11 o'clock in the evening for the night shift. These times of the day and night were taken into consideration since these are the times at which the nurses are at a relaxed stage and are free most of the time from their duties as nurses. Wilcoxon rank sum test was performed to compare the means for the Swedish Occupational Fatigue Inventory (SOFI), Mental Health Questionnaire, Memory Test and Response to Stimuli Test. The study revealed that the rotating nurses when assigned in the night shift experience a significant higher memory error rate, poor mental health, more subjective feelings of fatigue, and longer stimuli reaction time as compared when they were assigned in the morning shift and to those with permanent shift schedule.