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Showing results for tags 'Fatigue / exhaustion'.
Found 337 results
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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.
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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 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 ArticleThis brief paper reviews the available published literature on shiftwork and safety that allows the estimation of the relative risk of “accidents” or injuries associated with specific features of shift systems. It discusses three main trends in risk: Risk is higher on the night shift, and to a lesser extent the afternoon shift, than on the morning shift Risk increases over a span of shifts, especially so if they are night shifts Risk increases with increasing shift length over eight hours The authors discuss the fact that some of these trends are not entirely consistent with predictions made based on considerations of the circadian variations in sleep propensity or rated sleepiness, and consider factors relating to sleep that may underlie the observed trends in risk. They also discuss the practical implications of the trends in risk for the design of safer shift systems.
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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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Content ArticleHours of work and other conditions of service are matters for agreement between employers and staff, but it is vital that working patterns are designed to reduce risks from fatigue as much as is practical. This resource from the Office of Rail and Road outlines why the rail industry needs to take staff fatigue seriously, and provides links to key guidance.
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Content ArticleFatigue refers to the issues that arise from excessive working time or poorly designed shift patterns. It is generally considered to be a decline in mental and/or physical performance that results from prolonged exertion, sleep loss and/or disruption of the internal clock. Fatigue results in slower reactions, reduced ability to process information, memory lapses, absent-mindedness, decreased awareness, lack of attention and underestimation of risk. It can lead to errors and accidents, ill-health and injury, and reduced productivity and is often a root cause of major accidents. This guidance from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) outlines key information about fatigue and signposts to further resources about managing fatigue at work.
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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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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 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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Content ArticleThis consensus document by The Association of Anaesthetists of Great Britain & Ireland aims to improve patient safety. It is intended to act as a reference document for individuals and departments when considering the effects of hours of work and type of work undertaken in anaesthesia on clinician’s performance and wellbeing.
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Content Article
Queensland Health: Fatigue risk management systems
Patient Safety Learning posted an article in Good practice
This guideline has been developed to support all Australia's Queensland Health workplaces to identify and manage fatigue risks. It draws on lessons learnt from over a decade of implementing fatigue risk management systems (FRMSs) in Queensland Hospital and Health Services (HHSs) and from proven approaches to safety risk management. -
Content ArticleThe guardian of safe working hours ensures that issues of compliance with safe working hours are addressed by the doctor and the employer or host organisation as appropriate. It provides assurance to the board of the employing organisation that doctors' working hours are safe. Access the resources that guardians of safe working hours will need in order to fulfil their roles. It includes, a job role specification, checklist of things to do, templates for annual reports and more.
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Content ArticleMore work is needed on understanding and addressing a lack of sleep in rail workers, a new study has argued. Researchers looked at the difference between when staff were on day shifts and when they were working at night. They discovered a “feast and famine” scenario where 41% reported getting six hours of sleep or less when working days, compared to 63% when working nights. The findings, published in the Applied Ergonomics journal, suggested that many staff weren’t getting enough sleep and having less than six hours was linked to feeling very sleepy during the day. More than one in ten shift workers also reported they had been awake for between 18 and 24 hours by the time they finished work at least once during the past week. This led to fears that their tiredness could have an impact on road safety if they were driving home from work. The report said: “Sleep restriction and sleep deprivation, even in the short term, are known to affect cognitive performance. For a safety critical industry, this data should raise a significant concern.”
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News Article
Northern Ireland carers 'suffer shocking levels of poor health'
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Unpaid carers in Northern Ireland are suffering from "shocking levels of poor health", according to the charity Carers NI. In a survey of more than 1,600 unpaid carers across Northern Ireland, more than a quarter of respondents described their mental health as bad or very bad. One in five carers said the same about their physical health. The survey also found some 40% had not had a break from caring during the previous year and 23% said support services in their area did not meet their needs. Tracey Gililand, from Portadown, cares for her two disabled sons and said families like hers have been all but forgotten since the beginning of the pandemic. "Carers are still having to ask for the full return of much-needed day care and respite services and it feels like we've been left to paddle our own canoes with no help," she said. "No one knows our struggles, the many sleepless nights and exhaustion during the day. The impact on carers' mental health. The isolation that families like us experience that no one else sees," Ms Gililand explained. Carers NI said it has called for a legal right to social care support for all unpaid carers, the appointment of an independent carers' champion to advocate for carers to government, and wider transformation of the health system. Craig Harrison from the charity said carers had been "driving themselves into the ground", and were physically exhausted and in a state of constant anxiety. Read full story Source: BBC News, 8 November 2022 -
News Article
Long Covid impact in Ireland highlighted in report
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Almost 90% of those living with Long Covid in Ireland have not returned to their pre-Covid level of health, according to a new report. The study of 988 participants was carried out by APC Microbiome Ireland, a research centre based at University College Cork (UCC), in conjunction with Cork University Hospital and Long Covid Advocacy Ireland. It found that more than two-thirds of participants in the study continued to experience fatigue, memory problems, chest pain, stomach upset, and muscle pain. Those surveyed also reported that they were suffering from new symptoms that had not been present before catching Covid. These included tinnitus (38%), mouth ulcers (28%), new allergies (16%) and sexual dysfunction (13%). They said these prolonged symptoms can significantly impact their quality of life, affect their ability to work and cause significant disability. Read full story Source: BBC News, 7 November 2022 Further reading and resources can be found in our dedicated area of the hub on Long Covid. -
News ArticleIn April, when the coronavirus outbreak was at its peak in the UK and tearing through hospitals, junior doctor Rebecca Thornton’s mental health took a turn for the worse and she ended up having to be sectioned. Even now, three months later, she cannot face going back to her job and thinks it will take her a year to recover from some of the horrors she saw while working on a Covid ward in a deprived area of London. “It was horrendous,” Thornton recalls. “It’s so harrowing to watch people die, day in, day out. Every time someone passed away, I’d say, ‘This is my fault’. Eventually I stopped eating and sleeping.” Thornton’s case may sound extreme but her experiences of working through Covid are far from unique. More than 1,000 doctors plan to quit the NHS over the government’s handling of the pandemic, according to a recent survey, with some citing burnout as a cause. A psychologist offering services to NHS staff throughout the UK, who asked to remain anonymous, has witnessed the toll on staff. “I’ve seen signs of PTSD in some healthcare workers,” she says. “Staff really stood up to the plate and worked incredibly hard. It was a crisis situation that moved very quickly ... After it subsided a little bit, the tiredness became very clear.” Roisin Fitzsimons, who is head of the Nightingale Academy, which provides a platform to share best practice in nursing and midwifery, and consultant nurse at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS foundation trust, also worries about the looming threat of an uncertain future. “Are our staff prepared? Do they have the resilience to go through this again? That’s the worry and that’s the unknown. Burnout is hitting people now. People are processing and realising what they’ve gone through.” Read full story Source: The Guardian, 8 September 2020
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News ArticleOver 1,000 doctors plan to quit the NHS because they are disillusioned with the government’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and frustrated about their pay, a new survey has found. The doctors either intend to move abroad, take a career break, switch to private hospitals or resign to work as locums instead, amid growing concern about mental health and stress levels in the profession. “NHS doctors have come out of this pandemic battered, bruised and burned out”, said Dr Samantha Batt-Rawden, president of the Doctors’ Association UK, which undertook the research. The large number of medics who say they will leave the NHS within three years is “a shocking indictment of the government’s failure to value our nation’s doctors,” she added. “These are dedicated professionals who have put their lives on the line time and time again to keep patients in the NHS safe, and we could be about to lose them.
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News ArticleWomen working in the NHS are suffering from serious stress and exhaustion in the wake of the coronavirus crisis, a troubling new report has found. Some 75% of NHS workers are women and the nursing sector is predominantly made up of women – with 9 out of 10 nurses in the UK being female. The report, conducted by the NHS Confederation’s Health and Care Women Leaders Network, warns the NHS is at risk of losing female staff due to them experiencing mental burnout during the global pandemic. Researchers, who polled more than 1,300 women working across health and care in England, found almost three quarters reported their job had a more damaging impact than usual on their emotional wellbeing due to the COVID-19 emergency. Read full story Source: The Independent, 25 August 2020
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News Article
Health committee launches inquiry into NHS staff burnout
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
MPs have launched an inquiry examining workforce burnout across the NHS and social care, and the system’s ability to manage staff stress amid increased pressures during the COVID-19 pandemic. The House of Commons health and social care committee said it aims to produce a report showing the levels of staff needed in health and social care to tackle exhaustion and meet future challenges. The committee is calling for evidence on how workforce shortages impacted staff well-being and patient care during the pandemic and the areas that need to see recruitment most urgently. Read full story Source: Pulse, 3 August 2020 -
News Article
Harrowing stories of burned out NHS doctors bullied and broken
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Dedicated to caring for the sick and vulnerable, junior doctors should expect to be supported and valued as they carry out their vital work. However, hundreds have revealed they are subjected to bullying and harassment at overstretched hospitals that have been plunged into a staffing crisis by a decade of savage health cuts. A Mirror investigation uncovered harrowing stories of young medics being denied drinking water during gruelling shifts, working for 15 hours on their feet non-stop and of uncaring managers tearing into them for breaking down in tears over the deaths of patients. One was even accused of “stealing” surgical scrubs she took to wear after suffering a miscarriage at work. The distraught woman finished her shift wearing blood-soaked trousers, instead of going home to rest. Doctors are now quitting in their droves, leaving those left struggling to cope with a growing workload. The Mirror investigation reveals the reality of working for an NHS which has been subject to a record funding squeeze and is 8,000 medics short. Health chiefs vowed to investigate the Mirror’s evidence from 602 testimonials submitted to the lobbying group Doctors Association UK. Chairman Dr Rinesh Parmar said: “These heartbreaking stories from across the country show the extent of bullying and harassment that frontline doctors face whilst working to care for patients". Read full story Source: The Mirror, 12 February 2020 -
News Article
NHS hospitals bring in sleep pods to help tired staff take a break
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Help is arriving for overworked NHS staff as a growing number of hospitals bring in sleep pods for doctors and nurses to grab power naps during their shifts. Pods have been installed or are being trialled by a dozen hospitals in England. Royal Wolverhampton NHS trust was the first to try them, in June 2018. “Too many staff end up exhausted because they have long, busy, sometimes stressful shifts, often with little chance to grab a break because pressure on the NHS is so intense,” said Prof Steve Field, the trust’s chair. “We know that doctors provide better, safer care when they are fresh and alert. We have found [the pods] to be very popular with staff and also very effective in helping them get more rest,” said Field, a former GP. Dr Mike Farquhar, a consultant in sleep medicine at the Evelina children’s hospital in London, who has persuaded NHS chiefs to take staff slumber more seriously, said hospitals were finally taking practical action. “Air traffic controllers are only allowed to work for two hours and then they must take a 30-minute break, because if they were tired and made a mistake, bad things could happen,” he said. “But in the NHS, where the pressure is often high and sustained, the problem is that the people delivering care will usually choose to prioritise everything else – especially patients – over themselves and sacrifice things like breaks and sleep.” Read full story Source: The Guardian, 3 February 2020 -
News Article
Health strike: RCN nurses in second day's strike
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
About 9,000 nurses across Northern Ireland have begun a 12-hour strike today in a second wave of protests over pay and staffing levels. More than 2,000 appointments and procedures have been cancelled, including a number of elective caesarean operations. The Health and Social Care Board said it expects "significant disruption" Royal College of Nursing (RCN) Director Pat Cullen told BBC Radio Ulster's Good Morning Ulster programme that nurses felt "bullied" by health officials. Her comments followed a warning by the heads of Northern Ireland's health trusts on Tuesday that this week's strikes could push the system "beyond tipping point". Valerie Thompson, a deputy ward sister at Londonderry's Altnagelvin Hospital, said concerns over safe staffing levels and pay parity had brought her to the picket line. "We need to have the proper amount of staff to care for our patients, give them the respects, dignity, care they deserve," she said. "We are a loyal workforce; we get on with it, and rally around. But it is difficult. We miss breaks, go home late, staff are just exhausted." Read full story Source: BBC new, 8 January 2020 -
News ArticleMore than a third of maternity doctors are “burnt out,” and at risk of lacking empathy for the women in their care, researchers have warned. The study of more than 3,000 obstetricians and gynaecologists found high levels of long-term stress and overwork, especially among trainee medics. Researchers said the findings – from the largest UK study on the topic – were “very worrying,” with serious implications for patients. Overall, 36% of those surveyed met the criteria for “burnout,” which is associated with emotional exhaustion, lack of empathy and connection with others, researchers said. Medics who met the criteria for burnout were three times as likely to report anxiety, irritability and anger. They were also four times more likely than colleagues to practice “defensively”- meaning they tried to avoid difficult cases, or else carried out more interventions than necessary, for fear of error. Read full story Source: The Telegraph, 26 November 2019
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Content ArticleAfter two years under siege from COVID, many nurses in the United States are reconsidering the profession.
