The Different Meanings of Flexible Shift work Scheduling: An Integrative Literature Review

Aim: The aim of this rview study is to identify a clear meaning for “flexible shift work scheduling” for registered nurses from the different perspectives of nurses, policy-makers and health organizations. Background: There is a significant need for today’s nursing workforce to have more flexible shift work schedules due to demographic and social changes that have increased the demands on their time. For nurses, a flexible shift work schedule will help them to get the balance they need to reduce work-family conflict and for healthcare organizations it would be a successful tool that would improve nurse retention and recruitment. This paper approaches the study of the term “flexible shift work schedule” for nurses by identifying the meaning of the flexible shift work schedule for nurses based on the various perspectives of nurses, policy-makers and health organizations. Methods: an integrative literature review was completed via a systematic search in the CINHAL and MEDLINE electronic databases. The literature was divided into research and non-research studies, and then it were categorized into three categories; (1) studies investigating the perspective nurses, (2) studies investigating perspective of policy-makers, and (3) studies investigating the perspective of health organizations. Results: there are different interpretations of the meaning of the flexible shift work schedule for nurses as well as different goals within the three groups; nurses, policy-makers and health organizations. Furthermore, each group has a different interpretation of the meaning of the flexible shift work schedule based on level of experience and authority; however, within each group the meaning remained almost the same and goals seemed to be consistent. This review suggests that the difficulty in achieving a desirable schedule that fits the needs of each party might be because the groups do not have a common meaning for the term “flexible schedule” as they do not have shared goals to implement it. In addition, the review found that the voice of registered nurses is missing in the nursing research that discusses flexible shift work scheduling issues for nurses and this is another reason that is delaying implementation of flexible schedules that suit all parties. Conclusion: This paper assists in finding a clear meaning for the flexible shift work schedule for nurses by using different approaches to study the perspectives of the three parties involved in the scheduling process and decision including policymakers, healthcare organization and nurses.