Abstract

The work environment of nurses places them at high risk of fatigue. The literature suggests a high prevalence of fatigue exists among nurses. Fatigue leads to reduced cognitive and physical abilities increasing the risk for personal injury and patient care errors. Nurse fatigue should be mitigated in an effort to improve safety and quality in healthcare organizations. The purpose of this study was to describe nurses' self- perceptions of fatigue and to examine nurses' willingness to engage in specific fatigue countermeasures within the workplace. Data were collected through an anonymous Qualtrics survey. A sample of 279 nurses completed the survey. The Fatigue Assessment Scale (FAS) was used to measure fatigue. The instrument suggested a high level of fatigue within the sample. Findings revealed that 54% of the sample's self-assessment of fatigue agreed with the established fatigue instrument. Exploring FAS scores for each self-rated fatigue category revealed that the remainder of the sample (46%) either over or under estimated their level of fatigue. This study revealed that many nurses are willing to work 9-hour shifts, limit consecutive 12-hour shifts to two, hand over patient care for a duty-free break, avoid working beyond their scheduled shift and avoid adding additional work days to their regular scheduled days. Nurse leaders are well positioned to implement these fatigue reduction strategies and to make changes to the work environment in an effort to alleviate fatigue among nurses. Further research is recommended to examine the impact of these changes on the occurrence of nurse fatigue.

Description

This dissertation has also been disseminated through the ProQuest Dissertations and Theses database. Dissertation/thesis number: 28150716; ProQuest document ID: 2487990253. The author still retains copyright.

Author Details

Karen R. Cochran, PhD, RN, CNOR

Sigma Membership

Eta Psi

Type

Dissertation

Format Type

Text-based Document

Study Design/Type

Cross-Sectional

Research Approach

Quantitative Research

Keywords:

Occupational Fatigue, Fatigue Reduction, Fatigue Management, Patient Safety

Advisor

Susan Letvak

Second Advisor

Cynthia Bacon

Third Advisor

Nancy Hoffart

Fourth Advisor

William Karper

Degree

PhD

Degree Grantor

The University of North Carolina at Greensboro

Degree Year

2020

Rights Holder

All rights reserved by the author(s) and/or publisher(s) listed in this item record unless relinquished in whole or part by a rights notation or a Creative Commons License present in this item record.

All permission requests should be directed accordingly and not to the Sigma Repository.

All submitting authors or publishers have affirmed that when using material in their work where they do not own copyright, they have obtained permission of the copyright holder prior to submission and the rights holder has been acknowledged as necessary.

Review Type

None: Degree-based Submission

Acquisition

Proxy-submission

Date of Issue

2021-11-15

Full Text of Presentation

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