Is there a higher risk of errors or accidents during a night shift as a nurse?
No! I have been a nurse for over 40 years and love the night shift. We have each other's back. You usually work with a skeleton shift and you have to work together. You rely on each other. There are none of the administrators in their clean white coats walking around, not providing any patient care . Think about it if you work the day shift and work a weekend the cafeteria is empty but during the week those administrators are there. Why because most administrators work Monday to Friday. Of course, I am talking about working in a hospital. Nurses on the night shift work with fewer distractions a can concentrate more on patient care and medication and doctors' orders. Night nurses and nursing assistants are a special breed and should be given more credit for their hard work.
It depends on the nurse-I sleep better for my night shifts than I do day shifts. I also think days are so hectic and busy with so much movement it can be easy to miss something. Often times nights can be a little bit more laid back, giving you time to look more closely at the patient or see things like abnormal heart rhythms or vital signs that may be missed during hectic day shifts.
I don’t think so. We do not have many distractions at night.
Absolutely not. I've been a night nurse for my entire bedside career, because there are fewer distractions, and the teamwork between RNs and the NPs and MDs in house is much better. Day shift is a bunch of drama all the time- constant interruptions in your work flow, every provider thinking what they want should be done first and you can only do one thing "first..." I hate days shift. At night I can focus entirely on taking care of my patient.
Yes
That can happen day or night if attention is not directed to detail, but night shift is a slower pace and you can get more done.
I am a retired night nurse who worked for 43yrs. on this shift. I started out as many others on a med.-surg. unit then to a nurse manager then on to supervision all on the night shift. Having worked on different commitees & studies that actually looked at errors on each shift in the hospital setting, most of them occurred on the day & evening shifts. It was usually due to the level of busyness of these shifts. The night shift has it's own kind of busyness but our shift was always considered the "safety net" for the other shifts in that it was our job to double check doctor's orders, medical transcription etc. It was our responsibility to catch errors. The other thing about night shift nurses is that we worked more like a team due to the decrease in staffing at night, we had less interruptions from other staff like physical therapy, dietary, social services, family & physicians. Definitely less errors at night!
Yes. Especially for nurses working nights and not accustomed to night shifts 3am to 5am.
Not at all. We work with a different rhythm, a different body clock. We are equally detail oriented and safety conscious. It is equally important that patients get diligent care day or night. Says the night nurse of 35 yrs.
Yes
I would say, the shortage of staff on night shift would be a contributing factor to what you are asking. To work on nights is really challenging: the occurrence of unusual events happens. The q 15 min rounds is so vital. Good things happen also on nights. Be hopeful.
That is an excellent question and would be a good research study for a graduate student. In my experience, I would say no. Although night shifts are typically as busy as day shifts, I thought there were fewer distractions. No one rounding on patients or therapies happening (physical, occupational). Less visitors. Errors and accidents happen when distractions are interrupting caregivers. Also when healthcare providers are rushed, overloaded, or fatigued. This can happen on any shift.
No, but there are on days and evenings.
I would encourage you to do some reading on the subject regarding higher risk of errors at work directly with understaffing. They are also scholarly articles regarding errors and the number of patients or working pasture capacity to critically think about each issue you're dealing with. Being interrupted or unable to, especially during a time you're making critical decisions. Also will increase your potential for error.
Don't ever be pushed to that point or put in the position where you're not able to focus properly and completely. if this happens to you, repeatedly or you were put in this position continuously, it's time to get out and find a new job.
No. You have to be more independent at night. The staffing is less .
A 2018 Study by NCSBN
https://www.ncsbn.org/public-files/presentations/2018SciSymp_...
This by NCBI
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8046148/
Errors related to lack of intervention , attention tends to occur more frequently on the night shift.
No
Yes .I am still ambulance ners .when i trnsfer patient by ambulance we had been accidented the ambulance with patient fortunely not harm patient. But ambulance driver was death I was criticaly injured.
Errors are high at any shift- for various reasons
Yes there are risks that either nurse centered or patient centered.
No
No because there is less chsis than on day shift. Night nurses usually collaborate better.
You will face a lot of problems at night ! But be sure to know that you will need to work as a team with other nurses! Always help your fellow nurses ! I always tell less experienced nurses to take their time when checking medications or procedures! Always be prepared! I worked night shift for 10 years ! I had to leave because it started to affect my health! But if you’re young and healthy it’s not a bad shift! Just know when you need to go back to the day shift as you get older!
No
Short answer: YES. I will decline to suggest as to why. I will leave that to others to discuss.
