Assignment 2-5: A Case Study Of Officer Fatigue

Fatigue can be a symptom of many disease condition such as thyroid problems, a brain tumor, vitamin deficiency, anemia, hypothyroidism, pregnancy and depression. It is important to ask questions that should rule out all these differential diagnoses. As the interview progresses some of the diagnosis can be ruled out. The initial questions that the patient was asked include

This could combat employee burnout in a stressful profession. In addition, some nurses prefer having a compressed working schedule as it allows for more flexibility in scheduling as well as with their home lives. Several studies claim that this increase in work-life balance and shorter work weeks improve staff morale and reduce absenteeism (Knoll, 2013). These appeal to employers and nurse managers as important benefits. In addition to the social benefits for employees, working shift-work, especially night shift, allows for higher wages. Working night shift also provides an environment with fewer supervisors present. Shift work also creates more opportunity for workers to obtain a second job if they choose. Having longer shifts also results in information and assessments being passed between two people instead of three in a day, increasing communication and thus increasing the quality of care for the patient.

Being that I am in the military stress in one of the primary barriers I have to overcome on a daily basis. The military is an everchanging job meaning nothing ever stays the same. The constant changes increase the level of stress in the workplace. Rules and regulations govern the military, so I have to follow the directives given by my superiors regardless of my viewpoint. Stress can cause individuals to go into a stage of panic when the demands of the job become to much to handle (Manning & Curtis, 2015). The military is very demanding and requries me to work long without receiving extra pay. My stress level is always high because working more extended hours means less time I have to spend with my family.

Forming an understanding of fatigue and burnout on the job of delivering commodities cross-country is the focus herein. The discoveries from research conducted on fatigue have provided insight into additional concerns regarding the health of humanity. The process and development of how fatigue relates to the personal self when working under conditions of exertion are very important.

Rotating schedules have a tremendous effect of officer’s bodies because they are continuously adjusting to a new schedule every couple of weeks. The 6/4 rotation that is often used requires officers to work 6 days in a row on a night shifts schedule, then following the 4 day break be required to switch to a day shift schedule. This requires officers to switch from going to bed when the sun is coming up to getting up when the sun is coming up in just 4 days. A fixed schedule provides officers with a normal sleep schedule and allows officers to plan ahead. Permanent fixed shifts allows officer to be in a more normal daily routine. According to research by Villa (2009), researchers have found that police officers were much more likely than the general public to have higher-than-recommended cholesterol levels, higher-than-average pulse rates and diastolic blood pressure, and much higher prevalence of sleep disorders. Studies show that more than 90 percent of officers report being routinely fatigued while on duty (Villa, 2009). This has caused some officers to start using sleep aids or alcohol to fall asleep because of shift work. A tired police officer creates dangerous situations for both the officer and the

Bell, L. B., Virden, T. B., Lewis, D. J., & Cassidy, B. A. examine the impact of a longer-than-average compressed workweek on police officers’ sleep, cognitive abilities, health, quality of life, and work performance. Data collected during the study concluded with an increase in Professional Standards Bureau complaints, decrease in shooting qualifications, increase in vehicular accidents, self-initiated calls, adult bookings, field

Comparing the costs of other shifts to our current 24/48 we find no annual increased financial cost associated with changing to a “california swing”, 10/14 split (three platoon), or a 48/96 within the Sheffield Village Fire Department. However, we also find no realized cost savings to the annual budget by moving to these shifts either. The reason for this is that these shifts can be filled with the same amount of employees working the same amount of hours as is being utilized in the present. In addition, the negotiated workweek, as well as contractual time does not have to be altered within Sheffield Village to work these rotations. Costs associated with filling vacancies that occur due to contractual time off given to employees is stabilized

Due to the patient’s cardiac history, I would ask the patient’s onset of her fatigue and how long her fatigue has it been. Fatigue can be a warning sign of heart attack. I would try to find out the time her fatigue occur and worsen. According to Jarvis (2012), decreased cardiac output may cause fatigue and it worsens in the evening. Likewise, I would ask S.P when did she started taking Metoprolol and Aspirin. Many heart and high blood pressure medications can cause fatigue. They may slow down the pumping action of the heart, tone down the nervous system. It seems like S.P is exhibiting signs of Congestive Heart Failure such as: fatigue, 2+ edema of the bilateral ankles, and bilateral lower lobes crackles. A tired feeling and difficulty with

Modern aircrafts are highly automated, and thus mishaps due to equipment failures or system malfunctions are rare in comparison to mishaps attributed to impaired human performance (Avers and Johnson, 2011). One of the most frequently cited of these performance impairments is Pilots’ fatigue (Vejvoda et al., 2014), which has been recognized as a one of the foremost concerns of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) for over four decades (Federal Aviation Administration, 2012). After years of recognizing the physical and cognitive decrements associated with fatigue, as well as numerous improvements in available countermeasures, fatigue remains one of the primary contributing factors implicated in around 20% of aviation incidents (Petrie et al., 2004). Brown defines fatigue as the decreased

This article makes the point that police work has been seen as job that has become very stressful. In the eyes of the author it has turned into a profession that has high levels of stress that are causing the police officers to act out of character. It also state that there are also long term effects that these officers go through and are having everyday as they deal with the job. This article explores the idea if stress remains a constant. It also explores the fact rather or not if it increases or decreases over so many years. Does this affect their career down the road and also their personal life as well?

For this research project, it will focus on how police officers, and police administrators manage and cope with stress. Since present management and programs are implemented by administrators to assist police officers coping with stress, this research project will analyze the consequences officers face due to stress, what effect administrators have on this issue of stress, and help individuals understand the seriousness of the issue. This project will include an analysis of literature pertinent to this topic of stress, in order to formulate an understanding of this issue.

I appreciate the article because it offers background on my question. It shows people have been curious about drawbacks of working too much for more than one-hundred years. Although the study was done very well, I can’t help but to question a few aspects. In subsection 1, it says“lost time through sickness was sometimes attributed to the fatigue following long hours of work” (Pencavel 8). I want to know their process for choosing what was due to excessive work and what got thrown out as “natural sickness.” I also want to know how they could tell the difference between fatigue and working less to maintain the worker’s high pay. Another confounding factor would be that the nation was in a war. How much did patriotism affect the employee’s work

Jeff Long’s (2012) article writes that a tighter staff equals a full time load on a nurse. Usually hospitals are adapting to more overtime than more staff. Leading to fatigue and stress that can affect overall job performance. When that happens (Long, 2012) states, “...beginning with his or her physical and emotional well being, and ending with he or she administering poor patient care” (p.1). Not the best performance causes poor patient care danger and errors. Over the years hospitals have increased the turnover staff because of budget but at the same time having more expenses for the hospital. Long believes travel nursing is the solution because it helps the hospital’s stress and fatigue the hospital experienced at the increase of staff turnover.

There are specific stressors in which contribute to the mental and physical fatigue that police officers endure. Typically these stressors can be grouped into two clusters: stress associated with critical incidents and stress within the organization of the police force itself ( ). The first cluster, stress associated with critical incidents, focuses primarily on the job content

Police work as a profession is not without stress and it’s not surprising that stress creeps over into the police officers families’ lives as well. Officers once they are hired become all-encompassing members and representatives of the law, which can add pressure on the officer and their family. The stresses of the job, like the community reaction to the police, strange shifts with long hours, exposure to violence and confusion in the department, often follow the officer home and then effect the family members as well. It’s the bleeding over of professional life into personal like that is one of the things to expect as someone joins the police. The effects of police work manifest though the stresses in the officers’ personal life, like in the relationships they have and methods of dealing with the stress that also effect the family negatively.