Role of 30 Minute Nap in Medication Error Reduction

This paper explores the effects of taking a 30-minute nap on the performance of a registered night shift ICU nurse. It is true that nurses working night shift hours do not obtain optimal amounts of sleep compared to their counterparts who work during the day. According to Sudhakar and Shwetha (2012), day shift nurses were found to sleep 1 to 4 hours more than night shift nurses hence the latter are believed to suffer from sleep loss. Since sleep loss is cumulative, these night shift nurses are more likely to suffer sleep debt which in many cases becomes significant enough to impair the nurses’ vigilance, decision making, plan execution, and information intake. 0 Definitions Fatigue: this is a state of tiredness and exhaustion with a need to rest as a result of a person lacking energy.

Other studies have shown that there is poor quality of sleep among ICU nurses who take periodic naps compared to those who don’t. Sleep deprivation which leads to poor job performance and alterations in the daily levels of alertness, the contributors of fatigue. Most authors have reported that the fatigue that arises as a result of working full time in the ICU is a major contributor the errors and injuries which equally affects the quality of patient care. Fatigue, on the other hand, reduces performance and job quality and favors absenteeism among ICU registered nurses (Waage et al. Nurses who work without taking periodic naps showed more mental health and psychological problems compared to those who did (Shen, Barbera & Shapiro, 2014).

It is, however, unclear whether this is a dependency problem or a reaction to a state of fatigue and prolonged sleeplessness (Waage et al. There hasn’t been a permanent solution to signs of anxiety as a result of sleep deprivation. 1 Depression Many nurses who work in the ICU have been reported to show signs of depression. There is need to address this issue because it is a main cause of the high rate of suicide among ICU nurses and patients (Balduzi & Harris, 2016). However, we cannot determine whether depression is independent to sleep deprivation among the night shift workers although those who undergo depression takes antidepressants. Reducing time minimizes the fatigue space where nurses begin to make faulty judgments which endangers the patient.