Weekend Shifts Research Articles

Translational artificial intelligence-led optimization and realization of estimated discharge with a supportive weekend interprofessional flow team (TAILORED-SWIFT).

Weekend discharges occur less frequently than discharges on weekdays, contributing to hospital congestion. Artificial intelligence algorithms have previously been derived to predict which patients are nearing discharge based upon ward round notes. In this implementation study, such an artificial intelligence algorithm was coupled with a multidisciplinary discharge facilitation team on weekend shifts. This approach was implemented in a tertiary hospital, and then compared to a historical cohort from the same time the previous year. There were 3990 patients included in the study. There was a significant increase in the proportion of inpatients who received weekend discharges in the intervention group compared to the control group (median 18%, IQR 18-20%, vs median 14%, IQR 12% to 17%, P = 0.031). There was a corresponding higher absolute number of weekend discharges during the intervention period compared to the control period (P = 0.025). The studied intervention was associated with an increase in weekend discharges and economic analyses support this approach as being cost-effective. Further studies are required to examine the generalizability of this approach to other centers.

Beyond order-based nursing workload: A retrospective cohort study in intensive care units.

In order to be positioned to address the increasing strain of burnout and worsening nurse shortage, a better understanding of factors that contribute to nursing workload is required. This study aims to examine the difference between order-based and clinically perceived nursing workloads and to quantify factors that contribute to a higher clinically perceived workload. A retrospective cohort study was used on an observational dataset. We combined patient flow, nurse staffing and assignment, and workload intensity data and used multivariate linear regression to analyze how various shift, patient, and nurse-level factors, beyond order-based workload, affect nurses' clinically perceived workload. Among 53% of our samples, the clinically perceived workload is higher than the order-based workload. Factors associated with a higher clinically perceived workload include weekend or night shifts, shifts with a higher census, patients within the first 24 h of admission, and male patients. The order-based workload measures tended to underestimate nurses' clinically perceived workload. We identified and quantified factors that contribute to a higher clinically perceived workload, discussed the potential mechanisms as to how these factors affect the clinically perceived workload, and proposed targeted interventions to better manage nursing workload. By identifying factors associated with a high clinically perceived workload, the nurse manager can provide appropriate interventions to lighten nursing workload, which may further reduce the risk of nurse burnout and shortage.

Effects of Time of Arrival on Trauma Patient Outcomes.

Arriving during "off hours" to the hospital can put patients at greater risk of complications or mortality given lesser staff. Our goal was to investigate this in trauma patients with an Injury Severity Score (ISS) of >15. We hypothesized that the patients admitted late at night and/or during the weekend, would have worse outcomes, delays to the operating room (OR), and longer lengths of stay (LOS) compared to those who arrive on a weekday during the day. We performed a retrospective study from 8/1/2019 to 8/1/2022 of all trauma patients with an ISS >15 at our Level 1 Trauma Center. Patients <18years, dead on arrival, or transferred out were excluded. Univariate and multivariable analysis were performed comparing weekday vs weekend arrivals, day vs night shift arrivals, and with patients grouped as weekday day, weekday night, weekend day, and weekend night. The primary outcome was mortality. 953 patients met inclusion criteria. The patients that arrived on the weekend and at night were significantly younger than their counterparts. A significantly greater percentage of Black patients arrived during night shift. Mortality, hospital LOS, and ICU LOS did not differ based on day or time of arrival. Contrary to our hypothesis, our study did not find a significant difference in outcomes when evaluating based on a patient's time of arrival. This gives credence that our mature trauma center can provide the same level of care despite the time of a severely injured patient's time of arrival.

Serum biomarkers of hypoxic-ischemic brain injury.

Brain injury is a multifaceted condition arising from nonspecific damage to nervous tissue. The resulting cognitive developmental impairments reverberate through patients' lives, affecting their families, and even the broader economic landscape. The significance of early brain injury detection lies in its potential to stave off severe consequences and enhance the effectiveness of tailored therapeutic interventions. While established methods like neuroimaging and neurophysiology serve as valuable diagnostic tools, their demanding nature restricts their accessibility, particularly in scenarios such as small hospitals, nocturnal or weekend shifts, and cases involving unstable patients. Hence, there is a pressing need for more accessible and efficient diagnostic avenues. Among the spectrum of brain injuries, hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy stands out as a predominant affliction in the pediatric population. Diagnosing brain injuries in newborns presents challenges due to the subjective nature of assessments like Apgar scores and the inherent uncertainty in neurological examinations. In this context, methods like magnetic resonance and ultrasound hold recommendations for more accurate diagnosis. Recognizing the potential of serum biomarkers derived from blood samples, this paper underscores their promise as a more expedient and resource-efficient means of assessing brain injuries. The review compiles current insights into serum biomarkers, drawing from experiments conducted on animal models as well as human brain pathologies. The authors aim to elucidate specific characteristics, temporal profiles, and the available corpus of experimental and clinical data for serum biomarkers specific to brain injuries. These include neuron-specific enolase (NSE), ubiquitin carboxy-terminal hydrolase L1 (UCH-L1), S100 calcium-binding protein beta (S100B), glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), and high-mobility-group-protein-box-1 (HMGB1). This comprehensive endeavor contributes to advancing the understanding of brain injury diagnostics and potential avenues for therapeutic intervention.

Reaction of the endogenous regulatory mechanisms to early weekday wakeups: a review of its popular explanations in light of model-based simulations.

Introduction: Several widely held explanations of the mechanisms underlying the responses of endogenous sleep-wake-regulating processes to early weekday wakeups have been proposed. Here, they were briefly reviewed and validated against simulations based on the rhythmostatic version of a two-process model of sleep-wake regulation. Methods: Simulated sleep times on weekdays and weekends were compared with the times averaged over 1,048 samples with either earlier or later weekday risetimes. In total, 74 paired samples were collected before and during lockdown, and 93 paired samples were collected during early and later school start times. Results: The counterintuitive predictions of the simulations included the following: 1) only one night of ad lib sleep is sufficient to restore the endogenously determined sleep times after 1day/5 days of larger/smaller reduction/extension of the sleep/wake phase of the circadian sleep-wake cycle; 2) sleep loss on weekdays is irrecoverable; 3) irrespective of the amount of such deadweight loss, sleep on weekends is not prolonged; and 4) the control of the circadian clocks over the sleep-wake cyclicity is not disrupted throughout the week. Discussion: The following popular explanations of the gaps between weekends and weekdays in sleep timing and duration were not supported by these simulations: 1) early weekday wakeups cause "social jetlag," viewed as the weekend and weekday (back and forth) shifts of the sleep phase relative to the unchanged phase of the circadian clocks, and 2) early weekday wakeups cause an accumulation of "sleep debt paid back" on weekends, or, in other terms, people can "catch-up" or "compensate" sleep on weekends.

Evaluation of Critical Care Pharmacist Evening Services at an Academic Medical Center.

Purpose: Critical care pharmacists are considered essential members of the healthcare team; however, justification and recruitment of new positions, especially in the evening or weekend shifts, remains a significant challenge. The purpose of this study was to investigate the number of interventions, type of interventions, and associated cost savings with the addition of 1 board certified critical care clinical pharmacist to evening shift. Methods: This was a prospective collection and characterization of 1 evening shift critical care pharmacist's clinical interventions over a 12-week period. Interventions were collected and categorized daily from 13:00 to 22:00 Monday through Friday. After collection was complete, cost savings estimates were calculated using pharmacy wholesaler acquisition cost. Results: Interventions were collected on 52 of 60 weekdays. A total of 510 interventions were collected with an average of 9.8 interventions accepted per day. The most common interventions included transitions of care, medication dose adjustment, and antibiotic de-escalation and the highest proportion of interventions occurred in the medical intensive care unit. An estimated associated cost avoidance of $66 537.80 was calculated for an average of $1279.57 saved per day. Additionally, 22 (4.1%) of interventions were considered high yield interventions upon independent review by 2 pharmacists. Conclusion: The addition of 1 board-certified critical care pharmacist to evening shift resulted in multiple interventions across several categories and a significant cost avoidance when calculated using conservative measures.

Reframing the Administrative Supervisor Role Post–COVID-19 Pandemic

The administrative supervisor is the nurse leader who is present and provides leadership oversight on the night, weekend, and holiday shifts when the unit managers, directors, and hospital administrators are not present in the hospital. In this post–COVID-19 pandemic period, it is necessary to re-examine the role of administrative supervisors and enhance their integration within the organization’s structure. This article discusses key strategies in reframing the administrative supervisor role.

Discrepancy rate and clinical impact of preliminary reports from radiology residents

BackgroundResidents usually cover night and weekend shifts issuing the preliminary reading of radiological studies in university hospitals. This is essential to strengthening decision-making skills when facing complex cases independently. However, there should be a balance between patient safety and academic experience since some concern has been expressed about the accuracy of the interpretations generated by trainees. This work aims to evaluate and characterize the discrepancies in preliminary reports issued by radiology residents. Material and methodsRadiologists filled out a questionnaire to evaluate preliminary reports of trainees considering diagnosis, findings description, clinical approach changes, and critical findings. Analysis was performed considering modality, imaging type, body part, and resident academic year. A Chi-square test with a significance level α of 0.05 was used to make group comparisons. ResultsA total of 9072 studies were reviewed. Major and minor overall discrepancy rates were 1.7% and 8.3%, respectively. Minor discrepancy rate, findings description, and critical findings identification improved with increasing academic year, both overall and by modality. Discrepancy rates were lower for CT than MR and neuroimaging than for body-imaging studies. The highest major and minor discrepancy rates as abdomen/pelvis CT and lumbar-spine MR, respectively. Two percent of reports presented discrepancies that could generate a medical approach change. ConclusionDiscrepancy rates are low and comparable with those reported in the literature. These rates tend to improve as the resident's academic year increases. Our results suggest that radiology residents' coverage of night shifts and weekends is a practice that benefits the educational process without negatively impacting patient safety.

Perceived Impact of Affect Labeling and Social Sharing in Healthcare: Insights from a Pilot Study and Opportunities for Future Investigation

Perceived Impact of Affect Labeling and Social Sharing in Healthcare: Insights from a Pilot Study and Opportunities for Future Investigation

How would you respond? Insight into the administrative supervisor role.

In Brief Working to ensure that patients and staff get safely through evening, night, and weekend shifts, a key role of the administrative supervisor is to manage crises and deal with unexpected emergencies. In this article, four administrative supervisors share a challenging or unusual situation and their response.

Moonlighting and physician residents' compensation: is it all about money? A cross-sectional Brazilian study.

Moonlighting is a largely discussed, however under-explored, subject among physician residents. To analyze the frequency of moonlighting and its related factors. This cross-sectional study enrolled medical residents from all geographical regions of Brazil. A web-based structured closed-ended survey was applied that explored the frequency and type of moonlighting, residency programs characteristics, and psychological distress. The questionnaire was published on social networks. The completion rate was 71.4% (n = 1,419) and 37.7% were males aged 28.8 ± 3.2 (mean ± standard deviation) years, and 571 (40.2%) were post-graduate year (PGY) 1. There were residents from 50 medical specialties (the most common training area was clinical, 51.9%). A total of 80.6% practiced moonlighting, with an average weekly workload of 14.1 ± 9.4 h, usually overnight or in weekend shifts. Factors related to it were being PGY-2 or higher (adjusted odds ratio = 3.90 [95% confidence interval = 2.93-5.18], logistic regression), lower weekly residency duty hours (0.98 [0.97-0.99]), and a higher salary (1.23 [1.08-1.40]). In contrast, perception of a "fair/adequate" compensation was influenced by age (1.02 [1.01-1.02]), not being single (1.05 [1.01-1.10]), and residency duty hours (1.51 [1.22-1.88]). Depression, anxiety, diurnal somnolence scores, and work-personal life conflicts were not correlated with moonlighting status. Moonlighting frequency is high, and it is related to higher PGY, briefer residency duty hours, and the perception that remuneration should be higher. This study provides insights into the motivations for moonlighting and effort-reward imbalance.

Initial observations on the impact of implementation of a seven-day clinical pharmacy service on dispensary activity and performance

Abstract Introduction The need for seven-day clinical pharmacy services is widely acknowledged, although limited, in the acute sector of the National Health Service.1,2 Timely medicine supply is integral to provision of improved clinical pharmacy services to patients across seven-days, and is essential in effective discharge planning. There is a paucity of evidence for implementation of seven-day clinical pharmacy services, including the impact of service transformation on dispensary activity and performance. This limits planning and development of seven-day pharmacy services. Aim To assess the impact of a seven-day clinical pharmacy service on dispensary activity and performance, at the main site of a tertiary-referral teaching hospital. Methods A seven-day clinical pharmacy service was implemented in October 2021. Prior to this, pharmacy services were largely dispensary-based with clinical pharmacy services for acute and neurosciences admission and limited ward-based services in other specialities. At implementation, clinical pharmacy technicians and pharmacists (n=16) provided patient-facing pharmaceutical care for 7.5-hours/day across all specialities over the weekend; this included medicines reconciliation, preparation of discharge-medication lists, independent prescribing, counselling and clinical review of prioritised patients. The weekend dispensary staffing, skill-mix and shift patterns were redesigned to facilitate staff release from the dispensary rota. Dispensing activity data were obtained from Ascribe for six months pre- and post-implementation (April 2021-March 2022). Data were categorised as inpatient/discharge and the mean number of items dispensed per month analysed using Microsoft Excel. Discharge turnaround performance was calculated as percentage of discharge prescriptions dispensed within two-hours of dispensary receipt and obtained from the Prescription Tracking System. Verbal staff feedback was sought 4-months post-implementation. The study was deemed a service evaluation by the Pharmacy Research and Audit Group and so ethical approval was not required. Results Twelve dispensing staff and one pharmacist were rostered to one of three daily 3.75-hour dispensary shift patterns. Following implementation, mean total inpatient dispensing activity increased from 12799 to 13250 items/month (3.5% increase) and mean weekend activity from 2184 to 2677 items/month (22.6% increase). Mean weekday inpatient activity was stable at 10615 to 10573 items/month. The mean discharge dispensing activity increased from 9065 to 9837 items/month (8.5% increase): mean weekday discharge from 8498 to 8622 items/month (1.5% increase); mean weekend activity from 569 to 1215 items/month (114% increase). Discharge turnaround performance remained stable with 85% discharge prescriptions dispensed within 2-hours, versus 84% pre-implementation. Weekday performance also remained stable - from 84% to 83% and the weekend performance increased from 85% to 92%. Dispensary staff fed-back that weekend shift patterns were effective, activity was manageable and shifts usually ran smoothly and finished on time. Discussion/Conclusion Introduction of a seven-day clinical pharmacy service led to an increase in weekend dispensary activity, which was not offset by decrease in weekday activity. Importantly, the dispensary performance was not negatively impacted and weekend discharge performance improved. Increases could be because of weekend medicines reconciliation, pro-active medication ordering and pharmacist-led preparation of discharge-medicine lists. Dispensary activity in Winter 2020 was atypical because of COVID-19, thus it was not feasible to compare data. Further review, including 12 months data would reduce impact of seasonal variations in NHS activity. Limitations include that patient data including length of stay and time to discharge were not within scope.

Experiences of registered nurses supporting nursing students during clinical placement using a facility-based model: A mixed methods study

BackgroundAn ageing workforce and increased vacancies has seen a steady growth in nursing student enrolments. This has created a need to re-think how to optimise existing clinical placement opportunities while ensuring quality student experiences and staff satisfaction in their support role. ObjectivesTo provide insights into the experiences and satisfaction levels of Registered Nurses who supported nursing students during clinical placement using a facility-based model. DesignA quasi-experimental design. SettingsThree wards in an acute care facility and Primary and Community Health within the Southwest of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. ParticipantsParticipants included Registered Nurses/Midwives, Facility-based liaison support staff, and Nurse Managers. InterventionWithin the 24/7 facility-based model, each nursing student was allocated to one Registered Nurse for the duration of the clinical placement period. The pair was rostered to complete the same day, evening, night, and weekend shifts. MethodsA cross-sectional survey related to staff satisfaction was administered to participants at two time points: (a) prior to the commencement of the intervention (baseline survey); and (b) at the completion of the intervention. Following the intervention participants were invited to a focus group or an individual interview. ResultsThere were no statistically significant changes in the levels of staff satisfaction from baseline to post-intervention; with personal fulfilment scoring the highest and workload the lowest. Staff who worked in the Primary and Community Health settings were less satisfied with this model of student support. Overall, most participants reported high personal satisfaction, professional growth and development opportunities yet acknowledged this came at a cost, with an increased workload. ConclusionsParticipants were satisfied with the facility-based model in supporting student learning on clinical placement. The model is fit for purpose however it does need to be tailored to the contextual needs of nurses working in Primary and Community settings.

Five-Year Review of a Pediatric Pharmacy Internship Program.

Pharmacy internship programs improve job readiness for pharmacy learners. Pediatric-focused programs are not well described in the literature and represent only a small subset of pharmacy internships; furthermore, they offer unique experiences for learners with a strong interest in pediatrics. To better meet this need, a paid pediatric pharmacy internship was implemented in 2017 for rising second- and third-year professional pharmacy students. The program provides high-quality inpatient experience to pharmacy students with a strong interest in pediatrics via a 10-week, full-time summer program and ongoing weekend shifts throughout the academic year. Key focus areas of the internship include clinical shadowing and topic discussions, completing medication histories, research activities, and inpatient pharmacy triage. This program offers a multifaceted approach to providing interns with health-system experience and prepares learners for future careers in clinical and health-system pharmacy. To date, 100% of the 6 former interns who have graduated from pharmacy school have obtained residency positions. Furthermore, a permanent medication history technician role was created secondary to the positive response to interns providing this service.

A Survey of Near-Miss Dispensing Errors in Hospital Pharmacies in Japan: DEPP-J Study-Multi-Center Prospective Observational Study-

The aim of this study was to determine the proportion of near-miss dispensing errors in hospital pharmacies in Japan. A prospective multi-center observational study was conducted between December 2018 and March 2019. The primary objective was to determine the proportion of near-miss dispensing errors in hospital pharmacy departments. The secondary objective was to determine the predictive factors for near-miss dispensing errors using multiple logistic regression analysis. The study was approved by the ethical committee at The Institute of Medical Sciences, University of Tokyo, Japan. A multi-center prospective observational study was conducted in 20 hospitals comprising 8862 beds. Across the 20 hospitals, we assessed data from 553 pharmacists and 53039 prescriptions. A near-miss dispensing error proportion of 0.87% (n = 461) was observed in the study. We found predictive factors for dispensing errors in day-time shifts: a higher number of drugs in a prescription, higher number of quantified drugs, such as liquid or powder formula, in a prescription, and higher number of topical agents in a prescription; but we did not observe for career experience level for clinical pharmacists. For night-time and weekend shifts, we observed a negative correlation of near-miss dispensing errors with clinical pharmacist experience level. We found an overall incidence of near-miss dispensing errors of 0.87%. Predictive factors for errors in night-time and weekend shifts was inexperienced pharmacists. We recommended that pharmacy managers should consider education or improved work flow to avoid near-miss dispensing errors by younger pharmacists, especially those working night or weekend shifts.

A bump in the night: a 15-year retrospective analysis of urgent inpatient and emergency CT reporting out of hours in a tertiary referral centre

To assess the impact on specialty trainee (ST) experience of out-of-hours (OOH) working, focusing on what might be improved with both patient safety and staff wellbeing in mind. The number of acute computed tomography (CT) examinations reported OOH over the last 15 years (2007-2021) at Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust was analysed. Qualitative data from the radiology STs participating in the acute OOH rotas were obtained using questionnaires during winter months in 2019 and 2021, before and after the introduction of an OOH CT outsourcing service in 2020. Overnight acute CT has increased over 10-fold over the last decade to almost 50 CT examinations in 2021, and similar increases were observed during evening and weekend shifts. The option to outsource acute CT on an ad hoc basis was introduced in 2020 to manage the increase in demand. This resulted in a statistically significant improvement in the STs' level of reported satisfaction for OOH shifts (p<0.018), despite significantly increased perception of how busy the shifts were (p<0.035). OOH acute CT reporting at Oxford NHS Foundation Trust has increased dramatically over the previous 15 years. Working patterns and resources have changed incrementally to absorb this increase in demand, most recently with the option for outsourcing at times of peak demand. The trend for increasing OOH CT demand has considerable implications for future resource planning.

Obstetric Anesthesia Procedure-Based Workload and Facility Utilization of Society of Obstetric Anesthesia and Perinatology Centers of Excellence Designated Institutions.

Optimal workload and staffing for obstetric anesthesia services have yet to be determined. We surveyed Society of Obstetric Anesthesia and Perinatology (SOAP) Centers of Excellence (COE) for Obstetric Anesthesia Care institutions to evaluate procedure-based obstetric anesthesia workload and facility use. After institutional review board (IRB) exemption, an online survey instrument (REDCap) was sent by email (1 initial and 2 reminders) to all SOAP COEs. Survey data included the number of deliveries, cesarean delivery rate, neuraxial labor analgesia rate, the number of labor and operating rooms, and the number of in-house and backup obstetric anesthesia providers. Obstetric anesthesia activity was estimated using a time-based workload ratio per provider (Stanford Work Index, 1.0 = clinically working every minute of every hour on duty) during weekday, weeknight, and weekend shifts. We compared workload between academic and nonacademic centers and correlated operating and labor rooms with cesarean and vaginal delivery volume. Fifty-one of 53 surveys were returned (96% response rate). Data from 33 academic and 14 nonacademic US institutions were analyzed. For academic centers, median Stanford Work Index for all staff (included trainees and Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists) was 0.20 (weekday) and 0.19 (weeknight and weekends); nonacademic centers were 0.33 (weekday, P < .001 versus academic), 0.23 (weeknight, P = .009 versus academic), and 0.23 (weekends, P = .03 versus academic practices). Attending-only Stanford Work Indices were similar between academic and nonacademic centers. Total number of rooms on the obstetric suite (operating, labor, or triage room) was strongly correlated with delivery volume ( R2 = 0.55). The results outline staffing procedure-based workload ratios and facility utilization at SOAP COEs in the United States. These data can be used by other institutions that provide obstetric anesthesia services to guide their obstetric anesthesia staffing. The importance of considering the workload associated with different shifts and between academic and nonacademic centers is also highlighted. The results show that approximately one-third of an obstetric anesthesiologist's workload is spent on performing procedures. We did not, however, measure the other tasks anesthesiologists practice as peripartum physicians (eg, managing critically ill parturients, doing pre- and postprocedural evaluations, or performing emergent and unexpected procedures), and future studies are required to determine the time required to perform these tasks. Studies to determine the optimal staffing models to handle workload fluctuations and improve outcomes are also required.

Adult Neurology Rotations for Child Neurology Residents: A Survey of Program Directors.

We aimed to identify how child neurology and neurodevelopmental disabilities residency program directors (PDs) implemented revised Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education requirements for adult neurology training for child neurology residents. Before 2014, the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology certification for child neurology required an adult year, with no specified rotation requirements. At that point, programs scheduled a median of 10 months of adult neurology rotations during the third postgraduate year (PGY-3). In 2014, the adult neurology requirements were modified to include 6 months of hospital-based, 3 months of outpatient, and 3 months of other elective (may include neurophysiology, neuropathology, and/or neuroradiology) rotations. However, the effects of these changes on child neurology residency training nationally have not been characterized. A 16-item online survey was emailed to 79 PDs in the United States in September 2020. Survey responses were collected from September to October 2020. Descriptive statistics were calculated, and associations with departmental affiliation (pediatrics/neurology), graduate medical education (GME) funding source, and program size were compared using nonparametric tests. The response rate was 72% (53 pediatric neurology, 3 neurodevelopmental disabilities). The median adult months per year of training were as follows: 9 PGY-3, 2 PGY-4, and 1 PGY-5. Nearly all had both hospital inpatient and consult rotations with night and/or weekend shifts; 57% included neurocritical care and 36% epilepsy monitoring units. 48% of programs scheduled night and weekend shifts (including 25% that scheduled 24-hour calls) for residents on outpatient and elective rotations. Few programs required adult neurophysiology (20%), neuropathology (32%), or neuroradiology (25%). Programs with children's hospital GME funding (for either 2 or 3 years) tended to be larger (p = 0.008). Otherwise, departmental affiliation, funding source, and program size were not associated with rotation timing. Most child neurology residency programs still consolidate adult training in the PGY-3 year and often schedule additional hospital shifts during outpatient and elective months. However, there is a small shift toward adult neurology rotations occurring in the PGY-4 and PGY-5. Departmental affiliation, funding source, and program size do not consistently affect training practices. Few programs mandate adult neurophysiology, neuropathology, or neuroradiology rotations.

Shift work and quality of life on tourism, hospitality and restaurant industry: the Portuguese Context

This research aims to study the association between shift work and the quality of life of workers. On the one hand quality of life includes several aspects of life (e.g. personal, family, marital or social) and serves as an important aspect in understanding the well-being of individuals in relationship with work life. On the other hand, shift work can be defined as any work organization of working hours that differs from the traditional diurnal work period. Furthermore, they are two factors strongly related, considering the increasing use of shift work in industry and services, especially from tourism, hospitality, and restaurant sectors, where shift work has the potential to disrupt different aspects of quality life.&#x0D; The main objective of this study is to characterize the quality of life of shift workers in the tourism, hospitality, and restaurant industry. More specifically to characterize their workers’ personal life, family life, marital life, and social life.&#x0D; Through an online questionnaire, data were collected from 122 shift workers linked to the tourism, hotel, and restaurant industry in Portugal. Data were analysed with IBM SPSS 27.0.&#x0D; Results showed significant differences between workers from fixed and rotative shifts for the personal life satisfaction level whereas workers from fixed shifts reported higher levels of satisfaction. Workers in the morning shift reported higher levels of personal life and family life satisfaction than workers that are not in the morning shifts. There are no differences between the satisfaction levels for workers from the afternoon, night, or weekend shifts. There are no differences among the marital life satisfaction according to the kind of shift (fixed or rotative; morning, afternoon, night, or weekend shift).&#x0D; This study provides several insights into the shift work theory and practice and contributes to knowledge of how human resource management will be reconfigured some practices to support the quality of life of shift workers in this industry. Limitations and future research suggestions are drawn in the last part of the paper.

Why is it so hard to do the right thing? Reflections on the fourth trimester

Why is it so hard to do the right thing? Reflections on the fourth trimester