title: Changes in nurses' decision making during a 12-h day shift.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Although shift work is necessary in many health-care settings, research suggests that it can have detrimental effects on performance in health-care providers.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To determine if a change in decision-making occurred across a 12-h day shift in a sample of registered nurses.
  
  
  METHODS
  The participants were nurses working a 12-h day shift (7 a.m.-7 p.m.) at a large hospital in the south-eastern USA. Participants completed a policy-capturing questionnaire, examining their likelihood of calling a physician in response to specific patient symptoms, at the beginning and end of the shift. They also completed self-report surveys on alertness, stress and sleepiness.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Sixty-five nurses completed the study, an overall response rate of 41%. Participants significantly changed their decision-making policies from the beginning to the end of the work shift and also became significantly less alert and more stressed. However, there was no correlation between decision-making and reported alertness and stress.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These results suggest that medical judgment in registered nurses changed from the beginning to the end of a 12-h day shift. One possible underlying mechanism responsible for the changes seen across the shift could be the ability to maintain attention, as suggested by the Controlled Attention Model. The current results expand upon previous research, indicating there are a variety of negative outcomes associated with shift work.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Clemson University,  Clemson, SC 29634-1355, USA.
authors.forename: L E
authors.initials: LE
authors.lastname: McClelland
authors.forename: F S
authors.initials: FS
authors.lastname: Switzer
authors.forename: J J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Pilcher
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001288:Attention; D003657:Decision Making; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007600:Judgment; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009726:Nurses / Q000523:psychology; D009741:Nursing Staff, Hospital / Q000523:psychology; D010820:Physicians; D057766:Policy; D057566:Self Report; D015144:Southeastern United States; D013315:Stress, Psychological; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014851:Wakefulness; D014937:Work / Q000523:psychology