Application of Borrowed Theory to Nurse Fatigue

The major causes of nursing fatigue are mandatory overtime, short staffing, and long intense shifts. In the case of short staffing, most managers do everything possible to get everyone to work not caring whether the nurses called to work have had enough rest, their main concern being the shifts to get covered. This problem can be a problem for both the nurses and the patients. Some studies that have been previously studied shows the disadvantages of working when fatigued as listed below. The disadvantages include; impaired communication skills by the nurse to the patient, reduction of learning ability, increased risk of error which is very fatal in this field and has caused either wrong interpretation of the patient’s specimens or diagnosis, negative impact on insight and innovation, decline in both short-term and working memory and increase in risk-taking behaviour (Josten, et al.

By maintaining the balance illustrated above, the balance, the nurses are able to control some of the lifestyle diseases caused by several other factors like stress or emotional challenges. As well know, nursing entails providing support to a patient when he or she is pressed at the corner by a disease or a condition. By providing holistic health care to the patient, they feel relieved since some of the conditions can be solved by just a spiritual motivation or counseling and not medication or any diagnosis. Also, take an example of a mother whose problem is tress and visits a nurse to seek medication due to some effects of stress. The nurse should have an interrogative conversation with the mother and counsel her (Morton et al.

He has been associated with various literature on social psychology, group undercurrents, and group treatment. He developed the changing philosophy in the 1950s whereby he proposed a planned change method which is change by design or controlled change. His theory had three main concepts which were the driving forces, the restrictive forces, and the equipoise. The motivating forces were the forces that usually push in the direction that causes a change to take place. It facilitates change mainly because of the push a person or people in the desired direction. For example, it is in this step that planning for the introduction of bar scanning technology in the organization is done. This is aimed to reduce the stress and fatigue that nurses undergo when conducting diagnosis of patients using the manual method.

The manual method is tiresome and is prone to errors which should not be committed in this sensitive sector. Take for instance a nurse who is working in a big health facility and there are over 200 patients to attend to and does not want to abandon them in their states. He or she will be forced to work under pressure and even to some extent, work for long hours. Once the new change has been implemented in this stage there is no turning back to the old ways before the change was put into place. Also, it is in this stage where the challenges, the success of the newly introduced system experienced in both the implementation and adoption processes of the new technology are documented in order to be used later in case of any reference.

Lewin argues that it is necessary to create and understand change which should be viewed by the employees in their totality as opposed to viewing them as separate theories. Lewin’s analysis starts from the conviction that the behavior of individuals is a function of the group environment. He suggested that the field is a combination of a number of interrelated factors that are maintained by varying forces. A slight misinterpretation of the patients' data due to any reason including fatigue can cause a fatal effect. We can also deduce that the change theory is one of the most vital theories that can be used to ensure that the nursing work undergoes an appropriate change that can lead to automation of the field or give a consultative solution to some of the problems that make the field stressful.