The hospital has elected to initiate a rotating 8-hour shift ...

[WWatsford]

The hospital has elected to initiate a rotating 8-hour shift schedule. Which strategy, taken by the nurse manager, will help staff cope with the stress associated with this staffing pattern?
 
  1. Rotate the shifts several times each month so no one is on one shift very long.
  2. Rotate the nurses among all shifts so that they know the concerns of each shift.
  3. Be certain that nurses are taking their meal and work breaks each shift to increase rest.
  4. Schedule a double back at the end of each rotation to allow new rotations to start uniformly.

Question 2

A new triage area has been built in the emergency department causing conflict between the nurse manager and the nurses who think the design is not user friendly.
 
   After repeated complaints the nurse manager asks maintenance to change the arrangement of the room. What is the most important reason this change occurred? 1. The complaints motivated the nurse manager to make the change to increase unit effectiveness.
  2. The room design was uncomfortable for the nurses, which convinced the nurse manager to change the design.
  3. The nurse manager was afraid the nurses would refuse to work in the room so the room had to be changed.
  4. The nurses would keep complaining so the nurse manager changed the room to stop the griping.

[Natalie4ever]

Answer to Question 1

3
Rationale 1: It takes several weeks to acclimate to a new shift, so rotating several times a month will increase stress.
Rationale 2: Nurses should rotate only between two shifts.
Rationale 3: Reducing physiological stress can occur by receiving adequate rest and work breaks.
Rationale 4: Double-back shifts (in which the nurse works 8 hours, is off 8 hours, and comes back to work for 8 hours) should not be scheduled.
Global Rationale:

Answer to Question 2

1
Rationale 1: As the nurse manager, unit effectiveness is paramount. If the nurses are complaining, it is probably a legitimate problem in need of change.
Rationale 2: It is true that the room design was uncomfortable for the nurses, but it was the complaints that triggered the change.
Rationale 3: If the nurses had not complained about the room, the nurse manager would not have known about the situation.
Rationale 4: It might be correct that the nurses would keep complaining, but it was the fact that they were complaining in the first place that caused action by the nurse manager.
Global Rationale:

[WWatsford]

Excellent

[Liddy]

Thanks for the timely response, appreciate it