The night shift is a time usually associated with empty all-night diners and vacant streets. In many urban areas, however, the city never sleeps and there is work to be done in the wee hours of the night. One of the more crucial professions on the night shift are health care jobs. Health care workers must maintain the same level of expertise at two a.m. as they provide at noon.
Identification
Health care night shift work involves any situation where a health care professional provides patient care after regular business hours. This type of work is mostly delegated to nurses in a hospital setting who triage patients in crisis. It can also include other health care professionals like pharmacists and respiratory therapists. All of these professions provide services that require a level of immediacy in order to stabilize the patient. There are some cases where a patient simply needs to be monitored during the night. Licensed or certified health care workers are not always required in these cases, but these duties are often performed by a certified nursing assistant.
Benefits
Health care workers who work on the night shift are often able to conduct errands that are normally done on the weekends during weekday hours with less traffic. For many health care workers, the night shift allows them to flex their decision making skills in an environment where supervisors are not always available. Health care workers on the night shift provide an invaluable service to the community by ensuring that qualified professionals are available when adverse events affect a patient's stability. When a patient goes into cardiac arrest, for example, time is of the essence. A health care professional is needed immediately.
Risk Factors
While there are benefits to working the night shift as a health care professional, this scenario is not always best. Health care professionals with young families in need of supervision may face challenges when covering a night shift. Nighttime child care is significantly more expensive. Families may also run into quality of life issues if activities that would normally take place during evening hours have to be curtailed due to work requirements. Working the night shift as a health care worker requires concentration and performance may be affected if there is stress related to a family situation.
Theories/Speculation
In times of economic crisis, health care jobs become more attractive and the employment pool becomes larger. The higher pay that is offered for many health care jobs on the night shift will dwindle to nothing. Employers will determine that they can receive the same level of worker without offering additional financial perks.
Types
Health care workers on the night shift are limited to a few types of health care facilities. Hospitals are the main facility, and hospice centers and nursing homes also need health care workers on the night shift. Sitters will be able to perform their job in the patient's home.
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