Relationships between shift work, mental workload, and needlestick injuries among nurses

BACKGROUND: Nurses often engage in shift work, which disrupts their circadian rhythms and increases mental workload and fatigue. These factors may associate with and elevate the risk of needlestick injuries. This study aimed to model the pathway from shift work to needlestick injuries through the mediating roles of predictor variables. METHODS: In this descriptive-analytical study, 243 nurses from a hospital in Isfahan, Iran, were selected based on predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria. After obtaining informed consent, data were collected using the NASA Task Load Index (NASA-TLX) to assess mental workload, the Wallace and Chen Cognitive Failures Questionnaire, and a standardized Needlestick Injury Questionnaire. Statistical analyses were performed using SPSS software. RESULTS: The mean age and work experience of the nurses were 35.85 and 11.61 years, respectively. The mean mental workload and cognitive failure were 81.75 and 63.46, respectively. The results of the bootstrap and Sobel test show that workload (p-value = 0.227) and cognitive failure (p-value = 0.895) do not have a mediating role in the effect of shift work on needlestick incidence in nurses. CONCLUSION: These findings support a growing body of evidence indicating that occupational safety in healthcare is a multidimensional phenomenon shaped by organizational conditions as well as individual factors. It is important to consider strategies such as work schedule management, training, supervision, and compliance with safety and health procedures and standards among nurses to reduce the incidence of needlestick injuries.