Assessment of fatigue in nurses: A sample from a university hospital in Turkey
Makaleler > Tam Makale · 2017
Yazarlar: Aliye MANDIRACIOĞLU
European Journal of Public Health, Uluslararası, Wos, 2017, cilt 27
DOI: 10.1093/eurpub/ckx186.330
Özet
Background Work-related fatigue is associated with absenteeism and with occupational accidents. It may also affect the quality of health care service delivery and the frequency of occurrence of malpractices. Mehods The aim of the present study is to determine the fatigue level among a cohort of nurses. The nurses (N:597) working at Adnan Menderes University Faculty of Medicine were included in this cross-sectional retrospective study. Informed consents were obtained from 463 nurses (%78). Sociodemographic characteristics, working place details, working hours, year, and hours worked per week were all recorded. The Visual Analogue Scale for Fatigue (VAS-F), which was developed by Lee et al. in 1990, was used to measure the level of fatigue. VAS-F is composed of 18 items and rated from 1 to 10. Higher scores in the fatigue subscale and lower scores in the energy subscale indicated higher fatigue levels. Results Among participants, 85.3% were females and 67% were in the 18-29 years age group. Of them, 8.9% had at least one chronic disease. The mean score in the fatigue subscale was 30.59±12.77 and 69.18±34.10 in the energy subscale. Univariate analysis suggested that the mean energy score was lower and the mean fatigue score was higher in participants aged over 40 years, in married nurses, in nurses working at the department of internal medicine, in nurses with duration of work over 15 years, in nurses working continuously day shifts, and in those that worked 40 hours per week. Linear regression analysis showed that age was the single parameter most affecting energy and fatigue scores. Conclusions Hence, among many factors affecting fatigue, this cohort of nurses suffered from fatigue related with age. Senior nurses aged over 40 years at the hospital, those who work only day shifts at clinics with lower workload and those exempted from the night shifts. Further research might carry out to identify factors related to better energy levels and less fatigue. Key messages: Work-related fatigue is a situation that should not be ignored for patient and employee safety. According to this study results, age was the single largest parameter affecting energy and fatigue scores.