WORK LOAD AND PERFORMANCE OF HEALTHCARE UNIT PERSONNEL WORKING IN ROTATING SHIFT

Abstract

The health care units remain open 24 hours a day, all the days in a year. Health care unit personnel must work in shifts to render proper service to the people. They have to respond properly, efficiently and effectively even in unforeseen situations. But work load in different shifts and impact of rotating shift upon the quality of performance and outcomes is an area that needs further exploration. The purpose of this present study is to assess the relationship between demanding work schedule and job performance of the health care unit personnel. The study was conducted on 130 health care unit personnel in two different government hospitals of West Bengal. Heart rate monitoring, perceived exertion and alertness rating were done to evaluate the psycho-physiological load of the personnel working in different shifts. Different performance evaluation tests were also carried out to evaluate the ability to perform various repetitive tasks in different shifts. It was observed that the nature of job demand in night shift is more in sychological domain rather than the physiological one due to disruption of biological rhythms. Perceived exertion ratings were found to be higher in night shifts and reaction time was found to be lower in both the morning and night shifts although there are individual variations in perception of shift work tolerance. Word staffing based on job demand, shortening the length of the night shift, sufficient rest between shifts and providing lifestyle training would help shift workers reduce their work load and improve performance.