Critical care nurses' reasons for working or not working overtime

Date
2018
Authors
Lobo, Vanessa M.
Ploeg, Jenny
Fisher, Anita L.
Peachey, Gladys
Akhtar-Danesh, Noori
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
American Association of Critical Care Nurses
Abstract
BACKGROUND Around the world, registered nurses are working increasing amounts of overtime. This is particularly true in critical care environments, which experience unpredictable fluctuations in patient volume and acuity, combined with a need for more specialized nurses. OBJECTIVE To explore critical care nurses' reasons for working or not working overtime. METHODS A semistructured interview guide was used to interview 28 frontline nurses from 11 critical care units in Ontario, Canada. Analysis was guided by Thorne's interpretive description methodology. RESULTS Participants' reasons for working overtime included (1) financial gain (96% of participants); (2) helping and being with colleagues (68%); (3) continuity for nurses and patients (39%); and (4) accelerated career development (39%). Their reasons for not working overtime were (1) feeling tired and tired of being at work (50%); (2) having established plans (71%); and (3) not receiving enough notice (61%). CONCLUSIONS Findings from this study provide important variations and extension of existing literature on the topic, and appear to be the first reported in Canadian critical care units. Additional research is required to understand administrative decision-making processes that lead to the use of overtime. © 2018 American Association of Critical-Care Nurses.
Description
This article is not available at CUD collection. The version of scholarly record of this article is published in Critical Care Nurse (2018), available online at: https://doi.org/10.4037/ccn2018616.
Keywords
Adult , Article , Decision making , Human , Intensive Care Unit (ICU) , Nurse , Ontario, Canada , Semi structured interview , Female , Intensive care nursing , Male , Middle aged , Nursing staff , Organization and management , Personnel management , Psychology
Citation
Lobo, V. M., Ploeg, J., Fisher, A., Peachey, G., & Akhtar-Danesh, N. (2018). Critical care nurses’ reasons for working or not working overtime. Critical Care Nurse, 38(6), 47–57. https://doi.org/10.4037/ccn2018616
DOI