Is nurse fatigue an issue in hospitals?

In Louisiana, when you check yourself into a hospital, you’re putting full faith in the staff that they will be providing you with the best care they possibly can. Unfortunately, that may not always be the case. Various factors can contribute to a less-than-safe hospital stay, and among the most common risks is nurse fatigue.

According to Relias, nurse fatigue has been determined to be both a frequent and potentially dangerous threat to patients across the country. Nurse fatigue is caused by many different factors, including:

• High demand for workers
• Low supply of nurses
• Poor scheduling or tight hours
• High turnover rates

Hospital culture itself may even contribute to fatigue and burnout in some cases. In some hospitals, it’s expected that nurses will end up being overworked, and that sort of environment can quickly lead to demoralization.

Nurse fatigue is not just a problem for the nurses themselves, though. Fatigue among hospital staff can contribute to a large number of potential issues. This includes patient mix-ups, prescription mistakes, and problems with basic tasks like drug administration or keeping up with the schedules that patients in recovery must stick to. While some of these mistakes can be benign or cause little issue, others can create dangerous situations. For example, not remembering to give a patient their medication on time can lead to other, bigger issues with a patient’s health. If you’re given the wrong prescription because of sloppy handwriting or fatigue-driven confusion, that can be an even bigger health hazard.

If you have had bad experiences at a hospital because the staff suffered from fatigue, you may be entitled to financial compensation. Contacting an attorney to learn more could be a good next step to take.