![]() ![]() Further, the pattern of 12-hour shifts, which was democratically implemented, was preferred by the nursing staff and did not diminish their well-being and work performance. In most cases, each team works for four continuous night shifts, usually. These teams will be operating on two shifts of 12 hours to offer their service 24/7. You must understand that this is a 12-hour rotating roster, and for it to work efficiently, it requires four teams or crews. The researchers found that well-being and work performance were minimally affected by the 12-hour shift roster, while staff retention and sick leave were unaffected. This kind of schedule is referred to as the DuPont schedule. ![]() Effects on staff retention, sick leave and inservice education were examined. Independent researchers were engaged to evaluate the impact of the 12-hour shifts on staff well-being and work performance. After extensive consultation with the union and hospital management, a roster pattern of two 12-hour days, followed by 12-hour night shifts then days off, was introduced. The process was instigated by the nursing staff. This paper outlines the implementation process involved in introducing 12-hour shifts in a Melbourne hospital intensive care unit. ![]() Also, you will not have to explain why changes were made to the standard settings.Twelve-hour shift rostering offers an alternative to the traditional 8- and 10-hour shifts usually worked in Australian nursing practice. Your outcome is simplified in that there is no need to remember to make adjustments to the TWA for compliance decisions. The dosimeter takes the noise energy measured over the 12 hours and calculates it back to the OSHA reference point. The reason for this is that the instrument does all the work. Using an 8-hour criterion time for a 12-hour shift requires that you use a reference noise level of 85 dB as listed in the OSHA standard. What this means to you is that if you change the criterion time to 12 hours, you must remember to make your decisions based on a TWA of 82.5 dB to remain compliant. Using a 12-hour criterion time for a 12-hour shift requires that the reference noise level be lowered from 85 dB to 82.5 dB for the dose to remain at 50 percent. If the time spent is reduced by half, then the exposure will be halved. If the amount of time spent in a noise environment doubles, and the noise level remains the same, then the exposure dose will also be doubled. The criterion time is the time duration reference that is used in the calculation of the TWA. Therefore, if the time period increases to 12 hours, there must be a decrease in the average noise level for the dose to remain at 50 percent. Using a 12-hour criterion time for a 12-hour shift requires that the reference noise level be lowered from 85 dB to 82.5 dB for the dose to remain at 50 percent. If we change one of these elements, there has to be a corresponding change to a second element for the third element to remain true. It contains three primary values that make up the reference point: The 8-hour time period, the 85 dB noise level, and the 50 percent dose. The OSHA-defined action level is a reference point for the amount of noise energy someone may be exposed to. A common question we are asked is, “We work a 12-hour shift: Should I use 8 or 12 as the time duration on my noise dosimeter to calculate the time-weighted average?” Understanding how changing the time duration of a noise dosimeter sample affects the results, and how this relates to the noise standard, will help us make the best decision. The OSHA noise standard defines the action level to enroll an employee in a hearing conversation program as “an 8-hour time-weighted average of 85 decibels measured on the A-scale, slow response, or equivalently, a dose of 50 percent.” Because the action level is based on an exposure for an 8-hour work shift, a common point of confusion is what to do for work shifts that are not 8 hours, such as 10- or 12-hour work shifts. A major disadvantage of 12-hour shifts is that few of those shifts actually last only 12 hours. One advantage of 12-hour shifts is the flexibility to work three days a week with four days off. Is it just me, or can trying to decipher an OSHA regulation be confusing? Take, for instance, the OSHA Occupational Noise Exposure Standard (.95). The 12-hour shift is one of the most common shift lengths for hospital-based nurses.
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