Health Promoting Work Schedules: The Effect of Abolishing Quick Returns (HeWoS)
Sick Leave, Insomnia, Shift-Work Sleep Disorder
About this trial
This is an interventional prevention trial for Sick Leave focused on measuring Sick leave, sickness absence, shift work, quick returns
Eligibility Criteria
Inclusion Criteria:
- The unit-level inclusion criteria are that the units should have: 1) healthcare workers (other than physicians) who work rotating shifts, 2) employees who regularly have quick returns in their work schedule, and 3) a new shift rotation year commencing from February/March 2021 (which is the case for most units at Haukeland University Hospital).
- Employees must be healthcare workers at the above-mentioned hospital units.
- Employees must have >50% position.
Exclusion Criteria:
- Exclusion criteria at the unit-level are 1) units have recently (or will in the near future) went through other major organizational changes that may confound the results (this includes during the period from one year before the intervention starts until the intervention period is over) of the trial, or 2) unit's manager or a substantial number of employees strongly oppose participation in the trial.
Sites / Locations
- Haukeland University HospitalRecruiting
Arms of the Study
Arm 1
Arm 2
No Intervention
Experimental
With quick returns
Without quick returns
The control condition in this trial implies that employees maintain the same number of quick returns as in previous years for the six-month intervention period. Hospital units in the control group are not expected to experience any increase in the number of quick returns.
The intervention entails implementing a shift schedule which abolishes quick returns for a six-month intervention period. The number of quick returns in the various hospital units in this trial varies from 329-2356 per year. The intervention means that this number is abolished or reduced as much as possible. For practical reasons it is reasonable to expect that for many of the units it may be a matter of reducing rather than completely abolishing quick returns, as ensuring adequate staffing (e.g., due to sickness absence), often on short-notice make it impossible to comply with the rule of avoiding quick returns. The human resources department at the hospital assisted shift planners in scheduling shift schedules without quick returns.