Preliminary assessment of rotating shiftwork risk in a twenty-four hours hospital department

The safety and health of healthcare workers employed in twenty-four-hour hospital wards and exposed to rotational shiftwork (RS), including night shift, is an hot topic of international literature; in fact shift workers incur increased rates of burnout, accidents and injuries, absenteeism and, consequently, reduced work efficiency than non-shift workers. The aims of the present study were: 1) to analyze the occupational risk associated with RS in healthcare sector and 2) to detect the consequent interventions effective in minimizing RS risk.

The authors designed a questionnaire entitled Rotating Shiftwork Questionnaire (RSQ) which is made up of two sections: 1) Sentinel Events; 2) Risk Factors. The authors used the RSQ to evaluate the RS-Risk among homogeneous groups employed in a twenty-four-hour hospital department.

Results. The authors found a medium level of risk among all homogeneous groups. The analysis led to suggest organizational interventions for reducing the sources of RS-risk among healthcare workers.

The proposed questionnaire revealed effective in approaching the assessment of RS-risk; the findings were also useful in prioritizing and implementing strategic interventions aimed to moderate the occupational risk related to RS.