Effects of Work Shift or Shift Length on Radiation Safety Perception

Area of Science:

• Medical Imaging
• Occupational Health
• Radiologic Technology

Background:

• Radiation safety culture is crucial in medical imaging settings.
• Understanding factors influencing this culture is essential for improving patient and staff safety.
• Work schedules may impact healthcare professionals' perceptions of safety protocols.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate how work shifts and workday length influence radiologic technologists' perception of radiation safety.
• To identify specific aspects of radiation safety culture affected by shift patterns.

Main Methods:

• Secondary analysis of de-identified data from 425 radiologic technologists using the Radiation Actions and Dimensions of Radiation Safety (RADS) questionnaire.
• Descriptive statistics and analysis of variance (ANOVA) with Games-Howell post hoc tests were employed.
• Respondents represented radiography, CT, mammography, and radiology administration.

Main Results:

• Significant mean differences were observed in the perception of teamwork and leadership actions across different shift-length groups (P < .001, P = .001).
• Perception of teamwork among imaging stakeholders also showed significant differences across work-shift groups (P = .007).

Conclusions:

• Longer shifts (≥12 hours) and night shifts are associated with a reduced perception of radiation safety importance.
• Shift factors significantly affect perceptions of teamwork and leadership concerning radiation safety.
• Leadership, teamwork, and targeted training are vital for technologists working extended or night shifts.