Title : Implications of mandated overtime for nurses: An integrative literature review
Abstract:
Aims: The aim of this integrative literature review was to explore and synthesize the current literature on mandated overtime for nurses.
Background: Increasing demands for nursing expertise, amidst decreasing numbers of nurses willing and available to work voluntary overtime, has resulted in mandated overtime being implemented to help meet workforce demands. While mandated overtime is an increasing concern, there remains a distinct lack of literature that synthesizes the implications of mandated overtime for nurses.
Design: We conducted an integrative review following Toronto and Remington's methodology, guided by Caregiver Stress Theory as a theoretical framework.
Data Source: Searches were conducted in November 2022 in six databases: MEDLINE, APA PsycINFO, Business Search Complete, Academic Search Complete, CINAHL, and Health Source Nursing Academic.
Review Methods: A comprehensive search identified literature reporting on mandated overtime for nurses. Two reviewers completed title and abstract screening, full-text screening, and quality appraisal independently using predetermined inclusion and exclusion criteria and Joanna Briggs Institute appraisal checklists.
Results: In total, of the 1,398 records identified, 50 records were eligible for inclusion. Mandated overtime was associated with increased workplace-related injuries, fatigue, and burnout. Nurses used formal and informal control mechanisms in response to mandated overtime with internal and external implications. The implications of mandated overtime on nurses are complex and extend to nurses’ physical health, self-esteem, role satisfaction, and personal relationships.
Conclusion: The findings of this integrative literature review highlight the need for further research to address the implications of mandated overtime for nurses. Special attention should be given to the current context while accounting for the limitations of previous studies. Addressing the implications of mandated overtime for nurses requires a collective effort from hospital administrators, politicians, nursing unions, professional governing bodies, nurses, and patients.
Audience Take Away:
Mandated overtime for nurses is a topic that is still an issue and is still being widely used as a staffing strategy. The intended audience is the stakeholders: nurses, hospital administrators, politicians, nursing unions, professional governing bodies, and patients/patient advocates.
- Why mandated overtime is an issue for nurses and other stakeholders based on the information gathered from peer-reviewed sources as well as textual evidence and expert opinion.
- The physical implication of mandated overtime for nurses.
- How mandated overtime affects nurses’ self-esteem/mastery and role enjoyment.
- How mandatory overtime affects nurses’ social roles.
- The importance of addressing mandated overtime in the nursing profession for nurses, patients, and health organizations.
- The audience will have a greater awareness and knowledge of mandated overtime for nurses and know that while the COVID-19 pandemic has largely waned, the implications of mandated overtime for nurses may persist.
- The audience will be able to use the information as a reference when advocating for safer working conditions for nurses where mandated overtime is an issue.
- The audience will see the review’s limitations and, should the opportunity present itself, invest in overcoming them e.g., using systematic and scientific methods of inquiry to delve further into mandated overtime in the nursing profession.
- How will this help the audience in their job?
- This presentation will see mandated overtime as an issue with lasting implications, rather than a staffing decision that nurses can quickly overcome. With this in mind, stakeholders will have an available resource in this literature review, to inform their decision-making, in addition to the voices of the nurses they encounter who may be experiencing mandated overtime.
- Other faculty could use this to expand their research or teaching, showing recent trends in the nursing profession; the effects of major events on the profession; and the various roles nurses can take (e.g., policy maker, researcher, nurse ethicist).
- The aim of the integrative literature review did not include providing a practical solution.
- The current research, when expanded upon, may improve the accuracy of design, especially as regards work scheduling, creating appropriate rewards for overtime, and decreasing the negative implications of overtime for nurses.
