Comparing Workloads of Night Shift and Day Shift Workers in Critical Care Ground Transport

Abstract

Background

With the expansion of critical care ground transportation call volumes will increase. The increase in volume as a trend in healthcare is shifted towards daylight shift workers compared to their counterparts. Having the added aspect of transport distance in interfacility transportation adds an increased workload with increasing distances.

Objective

We aim to examine the relationship between distance traveled and patient volume to determine the correlation in workload between night shift workers and day shift workers in the interfacility critical care transport setting. The value of this information may be utilized to determine appropriate staffing levels and/or the need for crew downtime.

Methods

Utilizing quantitative data including call volume and Total transport mileage from a critical care transport service.

Results

A total of 1293 patients were treated and transported 78,838.78 miles via critical care ground ambulance. Day shift workers transported 701 or 54% of the total patients. These patients were transported a total of 41,427.06 miles averaging 59.09 miles per patient. Night shift workers transported 592 patients or 46% of the total patients. These patients were transported a total of 36,298.42 miles averaging 61.31 miles per patient. Dayshift workers averaged 1.92 transports per shift compared to the 1.62 transports per shift of the night shift workers. The night shift workers, however, averaged 37.8 miles per shift compared to the 30.7 miles of day shift workers.

Conclusion

Night shift workers in critical care ground transportation travel more miles with a lesser volume compared to their counterparts in the daytime who transport a higher quantity with lesser mileage, resulting in equal workloads.