The impact of an additional nurse assistant during evening shifts on nurses’ perceptions of job demands, job resources and well‐being

AIM: Workloads and other job demands jeopardize nurses’ well‐being, especially during evening shifts when there are less resources than during the day. The current study aims to shed light on how the addition of a nurse assistant to ward staffing during evening shifts has an impact on nurses’ perceptions of job demands, job resources, and well‐being. DESIGN: We performed a pre‐post pilot study, whereby we compared nurses’ perceptions of job demands, job resources, and well‐being before and after the addition of a nurse assistant to ward staffing during evening shifts. METHODS: All nurses at the ward of a top‐clinical hospital (N = 28) completed a baseline and follow‐up survey including validated measures on job demands (workload and physical demands), job resources (autonomy and task clarity), and well‐being (recovery from work and sleep problems). RESULTS: Compared with baseline, nurses reported fewer job demands (lower workloads and fewer physical demands) and sleep problems at follow‐up. No statistically significant changes in job resources (autonomy and task clarity) and recovery difficulties were found. CONCLUSIONS: We found preliminary evidence that the addition of a nurse assistant during evening shifts could reduce workloads, physical demands, and sleep problems among nurses. IMPACT: This study highlighted that heavy job demands and sleep problems associated with evening shifts may be addressed by adding a nurse assistant to the nursing team. Future studies with larger samples and a control group are needed to provide better estimates of the magnitude of the beneficial effects and of the cost‐effectiveness of an intervention of this kind.