Abstract:

Night shift workers are exposed to multiple health risks, as well as challenges to cognitive and psychomotor performance which impacts patient safety (Geiger-Brown, et al., 2012). As nurse educators, we have a mandate and responsibility to educate nursing students on mitigating the effect of fatigue when providing patient care as well as on healthy lifestyle practices when working the nightshift (Canadian Nurses Association, (CNA), 2010). The purpose of this study is to provide the nursing student and members of the inter-professional health care team the opportunity to experience the nightshift prior to graduation from their respective programs. The intent or objective of this simulation experience is help students develop strategies to provide safe patient care throughout a 12 hour nightshift and recognize how their cognitive and psychomotor abilities may change as their night shift unfolds. Many of the inter-professional students rarely have the opportunity to experience the nightshift prior to graduating from their respective programs. This simulated experience is being offered to provide opportunity develop strategies to provide safe patient care and to reflect upon healthy lifestyle modifications while working the nightshift. Our approach is to voluntarily recruit to a maximum 32 participants/students from the BScN Collaborative Nursing, practical nursing, paramedic and personal support work students. All participants will be oriented to the simulation lab and to the learning objectives. Using a pretest/posttest design, students will rate self efficacy prior to and after the nightshift simulation. In addition, the students will have the opportunity to debrief (Neill and Wotten, 2011) and to participate in a post simulation focus group. The implications for nursing education and practice is for educators to become more creative and innovative in helping health care students increase awareness of how to manage fatigue and minimize patient risk while working nightshifts.

References:
[1] Canadian Nurses Association. (2010). Nurse fatigue and patient safety. Retrieved from www2.cna-aiic.ca/CNA/documents/pdf/publications/Fatigue_Safety_2010_Summary_e.pdf
[2] Geiger-Brown, J., Rogers, V., Trinkoff, A., Kane, R., Barker Bausell, R., & Scharf, S. (2012). Sleep, sleepiness, fatigue, and performance of 12 hour shift nurses. Chronobiology International, 29, 211-219. doi: 10.3109/07420528.2011.645752
[3] Neill, M. A., & Wotton, K. (2011). High-fidelity simulation debriefing in nursing education: A literature review. Clinical Simulation in Nursing, 7, e161-e168. doi.org/10.1016/j.ecns.2011.02.001

Keywords:

Nursing & nightshift, inter-professional, simulation.