Shift Work Paramedics

Improved Essays
Shift work has a detrimental impact on paramedics which compromises clinical judgement and patient safety. Paramedics are constantly and increasingly faced with heavy workloads that are mentally, emotionally, and physically tiring (Anstey, Tweedie, & Lord, 2016). Rostered shift work influences a loss of routine causing fatigue, sleep disturbance, and can potentially have a negative influence on a paramedic’s mental health (Sofianopoulos, Williams, Archer, and Thompson, 2011). This assignment will analyse shift work and the impacts this has on the sleep and mental health of paramedics.
Paramedics work is dictated by patients. When patients become acutely sick or injured, paramedics are trained to respond rapidly. Sofianopoulos et al. (2011)

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