BROOKINGS, SD (KELO AM) - South Dakota State University's College of Nursing played an important role in determining the American Nurses Association's thoughts on nurse fatigue.
Barbara Hobbs was one of 15 members on the American Nurses Association's steering committee of that panel, which developed a position statement on the issue. The topic was featured in the January/February edition of The American Nurse.The assistant dean for South Dakota State University's College of Nursing's West River department, Hobbs used her experience as a nurse manager and conducted research on shiftwork-related fatigue and sleepiness.
While the ANA published the panel's guidelines in November 2014, Hobbs will continue researching the matter."Collaborating with other nurse researchers and practicing nurses was a great opportunity," Hobbs said.She said she improved her knowledge on fatigue and fatigue-related issues throughout the project. The panel also validated Hobbs' research.Hobbs has been invited to discuss the panel's research findings and how they contributed to the ANA guidelines at October's South Dakota Nurses Association convention."Taking steps and measures to reduce fatigue should not be an 'us against them' proposition," said Hobbs in The American Nurse magazine. "We're here for one thing—the patients. We need to work together to build an environment that keeps patients safe and nurses healthy. When people are up for many hours, they lose the ability to determine their level of alertness."Hobbs also presents strategies on surviving shiftwork in classes to introduce new registered nurses to fatigue's impact and effects. She said a change in behavior and to the culture will be needed for some of the ANA recommendations to take hold.For more on the ANA statement, visit http://www.nursingworld.org/fatigue.