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Showing results for tags 'Fatigue / exhaustion'.
Found 339 results
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Content ArticleThis presentation on fatigue and shift work is used as an induction session for doctors in training. It covers: Why are we talking about fatigue? What do you need to know? What can we do about fatigue? Improving sleep habits Working well at night How long to nap for Recovery after night shifts Driving tired Rest facilities Individual and organisational responsibilities and standards
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Content Article
Fatigue: are you at risk? (Association of Anaesthetists)
Patient-Safety-Learning posted an article in Staff safety
This article by the Association of Anaesthetists (AoA) defines fatigue, looks at its causes and highlights how healthcare worker fatigue can impact on patient safety. It includes a 'High-risk checklist' outlining factors that could contribute to healthcare worker fatigue including recent illness, use of alcohol and medications and stress. -
Content ArticleIn this article, the Association of Anaesthetists (AoA) outlines its three-point plan to address the culture surrounding healthcare professional fatigue in hospitals and tackle the problem of excessive fatigue. Part of the AoA's #FightFatigue campaign, the plan involves the following aspects: Detection Education Prevention
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News Article
NHS staff cried in safety interviews, says watchdog
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
The health safety watchdog has said that doctors, ambulance dispatchers and other NHS staff in England have faced "significant distress" and harm over the past year as a result of long delays in urgent and emergency care. The Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch (HSIB), which monitors safety in the health service in England, said many staff it interviewed for a national investigation "cried or displayed other extreme emotions" when asked about their working environment. "The bad sides [of my job] give me nightmares, flashbacks and fear, but they can also make me hyperactive, sleepless and sometimes not care about the danger I put myself in," one paramedic told the BBC. Sarah, not her real name, has worked in the ambulance service for more than a decade, but describes the last 12 months as the most difficult she can remember. "Over the winter I have witnessed and helped with cardiac arrests in the corridors of hospitals and in the back of ambulances," she said. "I spent four hours with an end-of-life patient. There was no hospice or district nurse available, so I had to make the choice to give them meds for a peaceful, expected death and prepare the family. "I felt ashamed that I could not stay till the end, but I had to move on to the next job as I had done all I could." The HSIB found NHS staff were reporting increased levels of stress, worry and exhaustion because they were not always able to help the sickest patients. HSIB has now urged trusts to do more to protect workers’ mental health, saying there is an “intrinsic link” between patient safety and staff wellbeing. Read full story Source: BBC News, 27 February 2023 -
Content ArticleThese Guidelines for the Provision of Anaesthetic Services (GPAS) support the development and delivery of high quality anaesthetic services. GPAS chapters have previously focused on a particular aspect of clinical service delivery. However, experience has identified a requirement in GPAS to describe what it is about a department of anaesthesia itself, beyond the different aspects of the clinical service delivery, that contribute to a successful department. The Good Department chapter has been developed to address this requirement, describing current best practice for developing and managing a safe and high quality anaesthesia service in terms of the non-clinical aspects of the service that underpin the clinical provision. The guidance makes recommendations in terms of: leadership, strategy and management workforce education and training clinical governance support services.
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Content ArticleFatigue is increasingly considered as one of the most significant hazards to aviation safety and other safety-critical industries. Both the academic community and industry have focused on understanding the phenomenon of fatigue and the factors that contribute to it in order to prevent it, but also to mitigate its possible consequences. As a result, procedures and regulations have been developed for operators to comply with and there is now a requirement for operators to demonstrate that they are actively managing fatigue. The aim of this white paper by Clockwork Research is to provide safety practitioners with a better understanding of the process of investigating fatigue.
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News Article
Health workers ‘shattered’, says Jeremy Farrar as more NHS strikes loom
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Healthcare workers are “absolutely shattered” and unless something is done to address the crisis in morale, staffing and training then “they won’t be there when you need them”, one of the world’s leading scientists has warned. Speaking to the Guardian, Prof Jeremy Farrar, the director of Wellcome and soon to be chief scientist of the World Health Organization, warned that healthcare workers would not be ready should another crisis hit. “This is a global issue, which I think is hugely concerning. It’s certainly true in this country,” he said. “The resilience of healthcare workers, broadly defined from ambulance drivers to nurses to doctors, to care workers in social care, etc. They’re shattered. They are absolutely shattered." Farrar said: “I think we have to address the morale, staffing, the training, everything from public health physicians to care workers, to doctors and nurses and physios and everybody in between because there’s very little spare capacity in any system globally. It’s particularly true in the UK. As you can see from the strikes, morale and resilience is very thin.” Read full story Source: The Guardian, 20 February 2023 -
EventThis Hospital at Night Summit focuses on out of hours care in hospitals delivering high quality safe care at night, and supporting the wellbeing of those working at night. Through national updates, networking opportunities and case studies this conference provides a practical guide to delivering a high quality hospital at night and transforming out of hours services and roles to improve patient safety. The 2023 conference will focus on the developing an effective Hospital at Night service, and focus on the practicalities of supporting staff at night, improving wellbeing and fighting fatigue. For further information and to book your place visit https://www.healthcareconferencesuk.co.uk/conferences-masterclasses/hospital-at-night-summit or email frida@hc-uk.org.uk. hub members receive a 20% discount. Email info@pslhub.org for discount code. Follow on Twitter @HCUK_Clare #HospitalAtNight
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News Article
Exhausted doctors shun out-of-hours services
Patient-Safety-Learning posted a news article in News
The number of GPs seeing patients outside standard surgery hours in Scotland has dropped by almost a quarter in three years. Nurses and paramedics have had to fill in for doctors in the out-of-hours urgent care centres because GPs could not be found to cover the shifts. Some health boards have had to close their centres and send patients to overstretched A&Es instead because of the GP shortage. Dr Andrew Buist, chairman of the British Medical Association’s Scottish GP committee, said, “Patient demand is outstripping GP capacity across the whole service, including out-of-hours. We simply do not have enough GPs in Scotland. Those who are working in out-of-hours may be doing more hours now than they perhaps did in 2019 which comes as no surprise if there are fewer GPs to go around but it is unsustainable and puts those working in the service at risk of exhaustion and burnout.” Read full story (paywalled) Source: The Times, 15 February 2023 -
Content ArticleThis article in Nurse Leader examines mounting evidence for nurse and patient safety associated with registered nurse (RN) fatigue. What changes driven by strong evidence are nursing leaders enacting to reduce the impact of RN fatigue on patient and nurse safety?
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News ArticleMental health sick days cost the NHS almost half a million pounds as staff anxiety and stress levels haved skyrocketed. Costs have almost doubled compared to before the pandemic from £279 million to £468 million. The sickness data shared with The Independent by GoodShape, an employee well-being and performance analysis company, shows the number of staff sick days increased in 2022 to 12 million from 7.21 million in 2019. That is despite the overall number of people working in the NHS increasing from 1.2 to 1.3 million. The overall cost to the NHS of absences for the five most common reasons – which includes mental health – increased to a “staggering” £1.85 billion from £1.01 billion between 2019 to 2022, according to figures from GoodShape. Covid was still the most common reason for staff sickness last year, according to the analysis, accounting for 4.4 million lost days, while mental health was a close second driving 3 million days off due to illness. Pat Cullen, chief executive and general secretary for the Royal College of Nursing said in response: “These figures are shocking but not surprising. With 47,000 vacant nurse posts in England alone, the pressures on staff are unrelenting. Read full story Source: The Independent, 8 February 2023
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Content ArticleThis guidance from the Office of Rail and Road outlines how to manage the risk of fatigue that may arise from a working pattern. It defines 'fatigue factors', highlighting that the more a working pattern features these fatigue factors, the greater the likely need to assess, avoid and control potential fatigue risks.
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Content ArticleNurses work long hours and play a critical role in keeping patients healthy. Many nurses feel that fatigue “comes with the territory” of such a high-stress, high-impact job. But what’s really at risk when a nurse is fatigued? This blog by US insurance company Nurses Service Organization (NSO) looks at the impact of nurse fatigue on patient and staff safety. It suggests several strategies to address the issue: Designing schedules and organising work to reduce nurse fatigue Developing a fatigue management plan Educating staff on sleep hygiene and the effects of fatigue on nurse health and patient safety Providing opportunities for staff to express concerns about fatigue and taking action to address those concerns Making sure extended shifts have adequate staff support and rest periods
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Content ArticleThis Patient Safety Advisory from the Pennsylvania Patient Safety Authority provides an overview of the issues associated with healthcare worker fatigue. It outlines fatigue risk mitigation practices that are being used in healthcare and other industries, including comprehensive fatigue risk management programs.
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Content ArticleSentinel Event Alerts from the Joint Commission identify specific types of sentinel event (a patient safety event that results in death, permanent harm or severe temporary harm), describe their common underlying causes and suggest steps to prevent them occurring in the future. This Sentinel Event Alert looks at the well-documented link between health care worker fatigue and adverse events. It looks at: The impact of fatigue Contributing factors to fatigue and risks to patients Actions suggested by The Joint Commission for healthcare organisations
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Content ArticleFatigue has increasingly been viewed by society as a safety hazard. This has lead to increased regulation of fatigue by governments. The most common control process has been compliance with prescriptive hours of service (HOS) rule sets. Despite the frequent use of prescriptive rule sets, there is an emerging consensus that they are an ineffective hazard control, based on poor scientific defensibility and lack of operational flexibility. In exploring potential alternatives, we propose a shift from prescriptive HOS limitations toward a broader Safety management system (SMS) approach. Rather than limiting HOS, this approach provides multiple layers of defence, whereby fatigue-related incidents are the final layer of many in an error trajectory. This review presents a conceptual basis for managing the first two levels of an error trajectory for fatigue.
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News Article“Frustration with the system was why I went off in the end,” said Conor Calby, 26, a paramedic and Unison rep in southwest England, who was recently off work for a month with burnout. “I felt like I couldn’t do my job and was letting patients down. After a difficult few years it was challenging.” While he usually manages to keep a distinct divide between work and home life, burnout eroded that line. He also lost his sleep pattern and appetite. The final straw came when what should have been a 15-minute call resulted in three hours on the phone trying to persuade the services that were supposed to help a suicidal patient to come out. “I was on a knife edge. That was due to the system being broken. That’s the trigger.” Doctors and nurses are struggling under the strain too. After her third time with burnout - the last resulting in her taking six months off work – Amy Attwater, an A&E doctor, considered leaving the profession altogether. Attwater, 36, said in the Covid crisis, during which a colleague killed himself, she started having suicidal thoughts and doubting her own abilities. She twice reported that she was being bullied but said no action was taken. “The only thing I was left with was to take time off work. I ended up having therapy, seeing a psychiatrist and being on two antidepressants,” said Attwater, the Midlands-based committee member for Doctors’ Association UK. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 5 February 2023
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Content ArticleThis study in The Journal of Nursing Administration aimed to investigate the relationship between sleep deprivation and occupational and patient care errors among staff nurses who work the night shift. A cross-sectional correlational design was used to evaluate relationships between sleep deprivation and occupational and patient care errors in 289 hospital night shift nurses. The study found that more than half (56%) of the sample reported being sleep deprived. Sleep-deprived nurses made more patient care errors. Testing for associations with occupational errors was not feasible because of the low number of occupational errors reported.
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Content ArticleThe Association of Anaesthetists established a working group to help anaesthetics trainees with safe sleeping patterns. In this blog, Dr Emma Plunkett, consultant anaesthetist and chair of the working group, talks more about new initiatives to fight fatigue and why it’s important to monitor the impact of tiredness in the national training surveys.
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News Article
Trust warned by CQC over staff sleeping on duty
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
A mental health trust has received a warning from the Care Quality Commission over staff sleeping on duty and other serious concerns. Essex Partnership University Foundation Trust was sent a “letter of intent”, which warns the CQC is considering taking urgent enforcement action, following an unannounced visit in November, according to a board report last week. The trust is already subject to a high-profile inquiry into hundreds of patient deaths. Natalie Hammond, executive nurse, said this would be “a fine tuning of our health roster which will be an early warning system that will determine and flag all staff members that may be at risk of working too much or their hours of working might perform a pattern that means they are at risk more of falling asleep on duty.” She added: “We’ve done learning lessons and videos that link the importance of being fit and alert for work and how when you’re not, what mitigation and what steps you should undertake and what risk there is to patient safety.” Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 1 February 2023 -
Content ArticleFatigue is a workplace hazard that affects the health and safety of patients, health care providers and the community. This blog from health tech company Cerner looks at the importance of managing fatigue in healthcare staff. The author suggests a three-step approach to lessen fatigue: Shift the culture of safety to include recognising and dealing with fatigue. Operationalise fatigue reduction measures within the organisation. Promote fatigue self-management through preventative strategies.
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Content Article
The Psychologically informed policy and practice development (PIPP) project investigated current workplace concerns, barriers to change and opportunities for development and growth, and was a collaborative project run by the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, UK Research and Innovation and the University of Bath. This document details specific evidence-based recommendations relating to four key areas identified as prioritised targets in emergency care workforce development: An environment to thrive in Cultivating a better culture A tailored pathway of care Enhanced leadership The recommendations are detailed, supported by evidence, existing guidelines and new empirical data, and are specific to the needs of the emergency care specialty. -
Content ArticleThis primer article by the Agency for Healthcare Quality and Research (AHQR) looks at the impact of fatigue and sleep deprivation on patient safety. Fatigue is the feeling of tiredness and decreased energy that results from inadequate sleep time or poor quality of sleep. Fatigue can also result from increased work intensity or long work hours. The article outlines the current context for discussions in the US around mitigating the potential risks of sleep deprivation among healthcare workers, highlighting measures that can be put in place by healthcare organisations including employing optimal practices for scheduling, planned napping and ensuring appropriate spaces are available for rest breaks.
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Content ArticleFatigue in anaesthesia practice is often ignored or accepted as the norm due to persistent, high-intensity work demands and expectations. This document produced by the American Association of Nurse Anesthesiology (AANA) aims to provide guidance to healthcare professionals, healthcare facilities and nurse anaesthesia programs regarding sleep deprivation and fatigue. It provides evidence-based information that promotes fatigue management and work-life balance.
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Content ArticleThis systematic review in BMJ Open synthesised evidence on the impacts of insufficient sleep and fatigue on health and performance of physicians in independent practice, as well as on patient safety. The authors also assessed the effectiveness of interventions targeting insufficient sleep and fatigue. The authors found that fatigue and insufficient sleep may be associated with negative physician health outcomes, but concluded that current evidence is inadequate to inform practice recommendations.
