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Nurses and Fatigue
A recent NIOSH forum on sleep and workplace fatigue featured presentations on worker sleep habits in several industries, including mining, healthcare, oil and gas extraction, and transportation. Holly Carpenter, a senior policy advisor for the American Nurses Association, presented data from an ANA survey that asked participants to provide information on shift length and fatigue. Information from the presentation appears below.
From the NIOSH Working Hours, Sleep, and Fatigue Forum website: “Compared to those in other sectors, [healthcare and social assistance] workers have a significantly higher prevalence of job stress, depression/anxiety, burnout, substance abuse, and non-fatal injuries and illnesses. Sleep deficiency is common…. Sleeping less than 7 hours on a regular basis is associated with numerous adverse health and safety outcomes.”
SOURCES

American Nurses Association: “HealthyNurse Data on Nurse Fatigue and Shift Work,” presentation at the NIOSH Working Hours, Sleep, and Fatigue Forum (PDF, September 2019). NIOSH: “Work Hours and Fatigue in the Healthcare and Social Assistance Sector.” RELATED:
NIOSH Science Blog: “NIOSH Working Hours, Sleep and Fatigue Forum: A Recap and Future Directions” (October 2019).

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In August, The Knoxville News Sentinel reported that a student intern and a researcher at Oak Ridge Associated Universities had devised an experiment to replicate the McCluskey incident in order to study the effects of radiation on the body. By irradiating vials of their own blood for different lengths of time, the researchers hope to generate data that clinicians and first responders can refer to following an exposure incident.

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