NHS Staff- Who’s Caring for You? Night Shifts and the “Negotiable: Non-Negotiable” Equation
When delivering workshops, I often talk about the balance between non-negotiable and negotiable demands. These demands can change on a daily basis and this is so true when considering the demands of shift working. In the world of the #NHS, working a night shift is potentially one of those non-negotiables, on the other hand how the night worker looks after themselves, is definitely a negotiable.
The Health Survey for England 2013 showed that shift workers were more likely to have a high BMI, an increased incidence of chronic diseases such as diabetes, reported general ill-health, increased fatigue challenging performance and productivity. And all of the above impact on life expectancy.
To help people work on the negotiables should be high on the priority list of any leader who want to create an engaged, effective and safe workforce.
So, some questions:
- How are you educating your workforce in the areas of fatigue management, nutrition and physical activity?
- How are you creating a culture of ‘Being a bit better, a bit more often’?
- Is this going to be a tick box exercise or something that makes your organisation authentic and stand out?
Time to be proactive with the negotiables.
Simon Shepard is CEO of Optima-life, optimising the human side of performance and resilience – he can be contacted on simonshepard@optima-life.com
#caringforcarers #peakperformance #NHS #ShiftWorkers
