NTONE Approves Position Statement on Nurse Fatigue.

NTONE Position Statement: The Nurse Leaders Role in Patient Safety: Reduction in Nurse Fatigue

Statement of Issue:

            The implications of nurse fatigue on patient safety has been researched and well documented for over a decade. Many other industries have put practices in place to mitigate worker fatigue to become high reliability organizations and diminish adverse events in the workplace.

            The Institute of Medicine (IOM) found strong evidence to link work performance and nurse fatigue (IOM, 2004). The American Nurses Association (ANA) and other professional nursing organizations have developed position statements in support of limiting shifts and overtime that leads to nurse fatigue and thus commission of errors. The ANA’s position is that the registered nurse has an ethical responsibility to consider their fatigue prior to accepting an assignment (ANA, 2006).  The Association of periOperative Registered Nurses (AORN), American Association of Critical Care Nurses (AACN), and the National Association of Neonatal Nurses have position statements that advocate for safe work environments and elimination of mandatory overtime. One of the basic foundational guidelines for the nursing profession is the ANA Code of Ethics for Nurses with Interpretive Statements (ANA, 2001a). The Code makes clear the professional obligations related to personal and patient safety.

Position Statement:

            It is the belief of the North Texas Organization of Nurse Executives (NTONE) that Nurse Leaders have a professional and ethical responsibility so support other professional organizations in reducing the impact of nurse fatigue on patient care, quality and safety. NTONE encourages and supports the practice of limiting hours worked by the registered nurse to no more than 60 hours in seven days. Furthermore, NTONE believes that as leaders, we can impact safe practice environments without legislative mandates through monitoring and tracking the hours worked by registered nurses.

References:

American Nurses Association. (2001a). Code of Ethics for Nurses with Interpretive Statements. Washington, DC:Author

Institute of Medicine. (2004). Keeping patients safe: Transforming the work environment of nurses. Washington, DC: Author

http://www.aorn.org/about/positions/default.htm

http://www.aacn.org/aacn/pubpolicy/nsf/vwdoc/pmp

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