Shift length, overtime, and patient safety: nurses’ reports from 12‑hour shifts
Summary
Long shifts and overtime were associated with increased odds of errors, near‑misses, and reduced safety climate in nursing units.
Why It Matters For Night Shift Workers and Night Owls
A cross‑sectional snapshot how rotation direction, quick‑returns, and long duties co-occurred with sleep, alertness, recovery, and metabolic markers for night‑shift workers and night owls. Patterns in the data make ‘quick returns’ and rotation direction concrete risk features rather than abstract policy terms. For night‑shift teams and individuals, this ties long‑debated rota features to concrete outcomes, making schedule talk about health, not preference.
Notes
One of the earliest large nursing shift‑length safety analyses.