Is there a difference in nurse burnout on the day or night shift?

Since it appears that burnout continues to be a problem for health care workers, this area deserves continued investigation and study. While stresses unique to the night shift are identified in the health care literature, the examination of burnout in relation to shifts worked does not appear to be present. While this preliminary study did not provide statistically significant data from which generalizations can be made, the tendency toward significance between the day and night shiftworkers in the area of personal accomplishment is important and identifies the need for further study in this area. One answer to the nursing shortage has been to extend shift lengths from eight hours to 12 hours. In fact, the popularity of extended shift hours is increasing in spite of indications that most 12-hour nurses report fatigue. Not only do studies need to be done to determine if quality of care is suffering, but the effect of 12-hour shifts on burnout and potential subsequent withdrawal from nursing needs to be examined. Symptoms of burnout rarely get better when ignored and therefore are deserving of recognition and attention. Since both intrinsic and extrinsic factors are involved, this issue should not be addressed only by further research investigation, but by incorporation of relevant concepts in nursing education, attention to handling stress in the workplace, and organizational intervention to minimize extrinsic stressors in the workplace. Extrinsic stressors may be reduced through attention to such issues as workload, flexible scheduling, and conflict management.