Potential Risks to the Health and Well-Being in Nursing

Given the nature of their work, nurses are often required to work in shifts so that there is a smooth transition throughout the day since hospitals, and other healthcare organizations provide 24-hour services. For most organizations, one of the best approaches to managing their human resource is arranging work shifts. Work shifts allow for an organization with fewer employees to continue providing their services throughout the day, as the employees will be categorized into hourly shifts on which they will be required to take turns with others and take some rest. Nurses are among the most affected by work shifts and night shifts in the healthcare sector. The shifts expose nurses to numerous occupational hazards as well as affecting their health and safety (Danna & Griffin, 1999). This report focuses on the impact of night shifts and work shifts on the roles played by nursing staff in the HealthCare.

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Identify the Greatest Potential Risks to the Health and Well-Being in Nursing

The greatest potential threat to the wellbeing and health of nursing professional is the shift work, which requires nurses to operate in different shifts during a day. Night shifts have extensive adverse effects on employees in any organization. The effects are more especially acute for mentally and emotionally demanding careers such as nurses in busy international healthcare organizations. Among these adverse effects include fatigue, individual factors, sleeping difficulties, disruption of the internal body clock (circadian rhythms), social and family factors, and errors and accidents.

Evaluate the Individual and Organizational Consequences of These Risks

Health effects related to night shift are mostly mental-related challenges. They result from the stress and emotional drain of the employees as a result of working during strange hours. For instance, mental health of airport workers affects the profitability of health institutions, patient safety, and threatens the key purposes of the plan of health services. Typically, mental health relies on employees relationships with colleagues at work (Danna & Griffin, 1999). Therefore, it is quite evident that the workplace environment affects the mental well-being of transportation services providers in different settings.

There are numerous kinds of mental health issues affecting present organizational management practice in various working environments. These issues arise from various sources. For instance, among the factors that trigger mental health challenges for employees includes: challenges with the task or job, breakdown in relationships with colleagues, organizational factors, personal problems in the life of the worker, as well as other individual factors such as the personality of the employee (Rathert, Williams, Lawrence & Halbesleben , 2012). Besides, there are specific issues within the workplace setting that contribute to the emergence of mental problems among employees. For example, high job strain, job insecurity, interpersonal problems such as bullying and discrimination, lack of recognition for good performance, and organizational justice, which refers to the flow of resources and information within the organization (Wright & Khatri, 2015).

These problems have paved way for many mental health disorders that are affecting employees within the workplace environment. Some of the most significant contemporary mental health issues affecting employees in the workplace include depression, anxiety, mood disorders, job stress, and low self-esteem (Rathert, Williams, Lawrence & Halbesleben, 2012). Anxiety is most likely to occur in instances of uncertain futures concerning job security in an organization. On the other hand, job stress and depression are likely to emanate from the tasks or the nature of the job itself. For instance, the employees may be required to work efficiently without adequate resources and long working hours during shifts among other factors. Also, low self-esteem may result from the relations between an employee with others in the workplace. For example, if one is discriminated against by sex, age, disability, race, or religion, it is likely to affect his or her esteem.

Several factors within the work environment account for the deterioration of mental health of airport workers. These factors may be classified as social, political, economic, and environmental factors. Social factors relate to the ability of an employee to interact with colleagues in a manner that aids his or her performance (Danna & Griffin, 1999). The work environment must create a culture that promotes healthy social communications among employees. Issues such as discrimination on any basis, violence, or psychological abuse in the workplace by fellow employees can affect ones mental wellbeing (Lewis, Yarker, Donaldson-Feilder, Flaxman, & Munir, 2010). Conversely, political factors relate to the leadership and organizational factors that affect the performance of employees. Organizational management is a disciplined profession that is based on rules, codes of ethics and guiding principles that direct practitioner on how to execute their roles. However, some political factors can limit the effective performance of employees. For instance, poor communication structures and poor worker supervision policies can affect the performance of employees and impact on their mental wellbeing.

Environmental factors are also crucial in discussing mental health of employees. These are factors associated with the availability of resources in the workplace. Employees work efficiently if there are appropriate policies and resources available in their environment. Tools such and equipment like testing kits, employee and customer safety policies and general cleanliness can affect the mental attitude of workers to their duties (Lewis, Yarker, Donaldson-Feilder, Flaxman, & Munir, 2010). They may become anxious or depressed when required to perform better under such non-supportive conditions. In addition, economic issues such as inadequate compensation can also affect the productivity of employees and their mental disposition in the workplace.

Despite the question of the mental health of nurses being a common threat to the provision of quality transportation services, several warning signs can be identified early and responded to in good time. Identifying and interpreting these early signals for mental health deterioration among employees can go a long way in resolving some of the conflicts that contribute to worsening of mental wellbeing of workers (Lewis, Yarker, Donaldson-Feilder, Flaxman, & Munir, 2010). Some of these signs include absenteeism, alcohol and drug abuse, eating disorders, and low vitality. These issues are not only related to the employees mental health but also his or her lifestyle as well. Transportation services organization must put in place strong human resource management teams that will help in identifying such instances and respond to each issue appropriately.

Provide Recommendations for Minimizing These Impacts

Mental wellbeing of employees within the workplace is a critical aspect of human resource management. It is one of the aspects that human resource management can use to improve the productivity of employees. Mental wellbeing is particularly crucial for nurses since the profession is emotionally demanding regarding the relationships the nurses have with clients as well as amongst themselves. Some of the most common mental health problems in the workplace include depression, anxiety, mood swings, and low self-esteem. These problems can affect employee productivity in various ways including increased cases of absenteeism, alcohol and substance abuse, low vitality, and eating disorders. Also, it is vital to note that these mental wellbeing concerns arise from various factors, most of which can be prevented. These include a wide range of political, social, environmental, and economic issues within the workplace (Brand, Fleming, and Wyatt, 2015). Nevertheless, the organization can ensure the proper mental health of their employees by implementing several strategies that include instituting appropriate policies and mechanisms for dealing with issues of unrest, violence, health, and culture in the workplace.

Furthermore, programs such as team building, diversity training, resilience training, mentoring, and coaching programs can go a long way in helping resolve issues of deterioration of mental wellbeing of nurses (Timothy, Therese, & Pauline, 2004). Therefore, from the discussion above, it is clear that the workplace environment can have an enormous impact on the mental wellbeing of employees. Nonetheless, these issues can be identified and addressed in right time to avoid massive losses that the organization may incur.

Therefore, based on the analysis of the issues above, several recommendations can be developed to help improve the working environment of nurses at the airport. The first recommendation concerns the working hours (Brand, Fleming, and Wyatt, 2015). Efficient management of shift work requires that the employees manage their working hours per week to avoid being overworked, which can lead to fatigue. Therefore, it is important to reduce the number of working hours for the nurses on shift work per week.

Also, there is also the need to employ a rotation strategy where the nurses are rotated on different shifts. The other important recommendation is providing enough period of rest before one change over from one shift to the other.

Conclusion

In conclusion, shift work has an enormous impact on the health and wellbeing of employees. There is a wide range of evidence from contemporary literature pointing to the fact that working in shifts can affect the employees morale. In addition, it can lead to mental health issues such as stress and depression, as well as fatigue, individual factors, sleeping difficulties, disruption of the internal body clock (circadian rhythms), social and family factors, and errors and accidents.

In more specific terms, nightshifts affect the way the body of an individual works because it makes it difficult for one to condition his or her body in a particular way. For instances, one will be forced to change his or her eating patterns, work during odd hours, thus bringing in fatigue and mental stress.

The management has a significant role to play in this regard. For instance, the role of the management is to ensure that there is a favourable environment for the nurses to be productive. The management can achieve this by structuring the working patterns and shifts in such a manner that the employees will be able to work productively without being fatigued.

References

Brand, S. L., Fleming, L. E., and Wyatt, K. M. (2015). Tailoring Healthy Workplace Interventions to Local Healthcare Settings: A Complexity Theory-Informed Workplace of Well-Being Framework, The Scientific World Journal, 1-8.

Danna, K., & Griffin, R. W. (1999). Health and Well-Being in the Workplace: A Review and Synthesis of the Literature. Journal of Management. 25(3), 357-384.

Ganster, C. D., and Rosen, C. C. (2013). Work Stress and Employee Health: A Multidisciplinary Review, Journal of Management 39(5), 1085-1122.

Lewis, R., Yarker, J., Donaldson-Feilder, E., Flaxman, P., & Munir, F. (2010). Using a competency-based approach to identify the management behaviors required to manage workplace stress in nursing: A critical incident study. International journal of nursing studies. 47(3), 307-313.

Rathert, C, Williams E. S., Lawrence, E. R., Halbesleben, J. R. B. (2012). Emotional exhaustion and workarounds in acute care: Cross-sectional tests of a theoretical framework, International Journal of Nursing...