12-hour shifts: job satisfaction of nurses

A before and after study was carried out amongst staff of 10 wards of a county hospital before and after the introduction of a 12-hour shift system for nurses. The purpose was to investigate the impact of the shift system on job satisfaction. Some 320 nurses covering all qualified and unqualified grades were surveyed using a standard job satisfaction attitude scale. It was found that under the 12-hour shift both intrinsic and extrinsic factors of job satisfaction had been detrimentally affected. Considerable dissatisfaction was expressed about hours of work, conditions of work and the impact of the shift on domestic and social arrangements. The vast majority (83%) reported that they did not want to go on working the shift and there was support for the view that recruitment to nursing would be adversely affected by the shift.