The impacts and how policy might address these competing needs

Nurses working hours have negative impacts on nurses’ wellbeing and patient safety. According to Son et al. (2019), long working hours make nurses have short rest time between shifts, which affects the health status of nurses and increases their risk for burnout. Working overtime is associated with occurrences of medical errors and adverse events, for example, hospital-acquired infections, injuries from falls, and medication errors.

Nurse leaders must establish the most efficient policy to match limited nursing resources to the fluctuating patient demands. Floating is a flexible nurse staffing policy that can address staffing deficits and ensure quality care. According to Dall’Ora and Griffiths (2018), floating involves assigning nurses, usually from a defined pool of nurses, to nursing units other than their home unit. Float pools are associated with a reduction in the costs of employing agency nurses and decreases in vacancy rates.

References

Dall’Ora, C., & Griffiths, P. D. (2018). Effects of flexible staffing on patient outcomes and healthcare costs. Nursing Times 114 (5), 38-39