Problem
Do you think your State Board of Nursing should impose limitations on the number of hours that nurses work due to nurse fatigue and the greater chance of making mistakes detrimental to patients? Justify your thoughts with evidence-based research.
There are many differing opinions on the effect that extended work hours has on an individual. We all know fatigue and reduced sleep times increase mistakes and judgment, which is not only applicable to the field of nursing. As noted by Rogers (2008), insufficient sleep has been associated with cognitive problems, mood alterations, reduced job performance, reduced motivation, increased safety risks, and physiological changes. (para.7). The Nurse Practice Act even states, "In relation to overtime and or consecutive hours worked, the nurse has a duty to recognize when he or she is unfit to practice secondary to physical, mental, and or emotional fatigue [217.11(1)(T)]" (Texas Board of Nursing, n.d.-a, para. 3). As a practicing nurse, I would be in favor of legislation that would limit the maximum hours worked by nurses. Until that time, we as nurses must recognize when we have reached the limit for our patient's safety and our own.