Exploring the Effects of Sleep Deprivation on Nurses' Performance and Patient Care

Abstract

Background: Fatigue has been cited as a significant problem in most healthcare settings resulting in declined performance, and higher incidence of medical errors. The interventions negatively affect decision-making processes and communication and as a result it will leads to compromise the patient outcomes.

Aim: The objectives of this study are as follow The purpose of this study is to examine how fatigue affects the performance of healthcare workers/patient outcome, (a)The kind of risks it poses to the patients/health care workers and (b) The ways through which the effects can be minimized.

Methods:  A broad research synthesis of published studies and reports on the impacts of fatigue on medical competence and social interaction was carried out.

Results:  The results reveal that being fatigued impacts medical workers and teams as it hinders communication between the teams and inflicts a higher percentage of mistakes to patients’ care quality and safety.

Conclusion:  Fatigue in healthcare places put patients at high risk and worsens the quality of care greatly. The way to manage these risks is to organize better work shifts and organizational support to employees.