Relationship Between Nurse Fatigue and Errors Article Review

Open, View, and/or
Download this Document

Total Length: 1111 words ( 4 double-spaced pages)

Total Sources: 1

Page 1 of 4

Thomas (2005) analyzes the responses of nurses who were reported to the National Council of State Boards of Nursing for nursing errors. The responses were given to questionnaires delivered to both the reported nurses and their employers. The focus of the questionnaires was to identify any relationship (if one existed) between the number of working hours of the reported nurses, the incidents and nursing fatigue. 117 employers responded and 122 nurses responded. The responses indicated that almost all nurses who were reported for incidents worked 40 or fewer hours per week total (that is taking into account any and all jobs a nurse might hold) and that "the vast majority of nurses denied experiencing fatigue" (Thomas, 2005, p. 2). The responses of the questionnaires thus indicated that there was no relation between nursing incidents/errors and nursing fatigue -- mainly because nearly 70% of the nurses who responded reported working only 40 hours or fewer per week. 20% reported working between 40 and 50 hours per week. 7% reported working between 50 and 60 hours per week, and 5% reported working more than 60 hours per week. That means that only about a third of the respondents actually worked more than what is considered a full work week's load. However, this is not actually a fair assessment of whether a nurse feels fatigued -- and the fact that (as Thomas points out) many nurses may have felt pressure to respond that they did not feel fatigued in the questionnaire's open-ended section could add a measure of unreliability to the study overall. In short, the study is helpful in seeing how many nurses reported for errors worked overtime -- yet it is not necessarily helpful in determining if fatigue is or is not a variable in the errors committed.

Stuck Writing Your "Relationship Between Nurse Fatigue and Errors" Article Review?

View All Our Example Relationship Between Nurse Fatigue and Errors Article Review

Have A Custom Example Essay Written



The research's methodology was based on the use of the National Council of State Board's of Nursing Taxonomy of Error Reporting and Root Cause Analysis (TERCAP). TERCAP served as method of collecting data on the nursing errors and the variables of working hours and nursing fatigue (self-reported). The questionnaires that were sent out were not random but were based on the names in the errors report. The method involved sending the questionnaires to the nurses and to their managers so as to obtain information on whether nurses were actually being overworked and whether or not they actually felt fatigued. The questionnaire was written in a way so that there was space for the nurses to make comments regarding their "feelings of fatigue" (Thomas, 2005, p. 2).

Findings showed that expressions of feeling fatigued were made and the cause cited by nurses as workload, job frustration, job stress, illness, illness of their children, pregnancy, and education. The study also found that nurses likewise expressed not feeling fatigued so much as "overwhelmed and rushed" (Thomas, 2005, p. 3). The findings suggested that most nurses who were reported for practice errors did not actually feel fatigued and neither did they work more than forty hours per week when the practice error was committed. Thus the study found that there was no significant relation between practice errors and fatigue. However, with that said, the study also noted its own limitations -- namely, that the findings might be misleading since respondents could….....

Show More ⇣

     Open the full completed essay and source list


OR

     Order a one-of-a-kind custom essay on this topic


sample essay writing service

Cite This Resource:

Latest APA Format (6th edition)

Copy Reference
"Relationship Between Nurse Fatigue And Errors" (2016, September 18) Retrieved June 15, 2026, from
https://www.aceyourpaper.com/essays/relationship-nurse-fatigue-errors-2162174

Latest MLA Format (8th edition)

Copy Reference
"Relationship Between Nurse Fatigue And Errors" 18 September 2016. Web.15 June. 2026. <
https://www.aceyourpaper.com/essays/relationship-nurse-fatigue-errors-2162174>

Latest Chicago Format (16th edition)

Copy Reference
"Relationship Between Nurse Fatigue And Errors", 18 September 2016, Accessed.15 June. 2026,
https://www.aceyourpaper.com/essays/relationship-nurse-fatigue-errors-2162174
   

Open, View, and/or
Download this Document
order custom essay example