Paramedics are mainly a group of individuals who face many challenges due to the unpredictable nature of their work. The paramedics have to perform a variety of tasks in the environment of pre-hospital (Patterson et al., 2012). Research has proven that a high percentage of healthcare providers suffer from fatigue. Scientific evidence indicates that the leading cause of medical errors in the field is fatigue (Lamond & Dawson, 1999). Sleep deprivation among the emergency medical providers is due to the variety of shifts they work in order to provide the community with a continuous 24-hour service (Lockley et al., 2007). The paper explains how sleep deprivation affects the productivity of the paramedics.
Notably, the paramedics require essential skills especially in emergency medical services. The essential skills include critical thinking, rapid response, multi tasking, and fine motor function (Owens & Avidan, 2006). Poor sleep, which causes fatigue will affect all these essential skills required in emergency medical services (Lockley et al., 2007). In addition, sleep deprivation affects the compassion and empathy of paramedics besides having a negative impact on reaction and cognition time (Patterson et al., 2012). Amazingly, a majority of emergency cases happen in the morning hours when the paramedics are used up and have less energy. Considerably, the speed at which the paramedics attend to the patients is reduced posing a great risk to the patients as they will not get the desirable services from the paramedics (Patterson et al., 2010).
Another fact is that sleep deprivation compromise the role of paramedics, which affect the quality of services rendered to the patients (Owens & Avidan, 2006). Fatigue affects the communication between the paramedics and the patients, drug administration to the patients thus, leading to paramedic error (Patterson et al., 2012). The communication being affected will result to misinterpretation of information and this will lead to frequent diagnostic errors (Lamond & Dawson, 1999). Wrong diagnosis is likely to cause more complications rather than provide adequate treatment.
Sleep deprivation among the paramedics also leads to depression given that the paramedics face greater emotional burdens as they experience the emotions of patients on a regular basis (Owens & Avidan, 2006). Fatigue significantly affects vigilance, judgement, concentration, mood, alertness and performance. Poor sleep and fatigue can result in attention reduction; impairing the normal function of the central nervous system (Patterson et al., 2012). Due to the impairment of knowledge, problem solving and decision making will be affected resulting in decreases in work performance and productivity (Patterson et al., 2010). The physical and mental stress will lead to increased risks including errors and injuries in hospitals lowering the quality of services (Lamond & Dawson, 1999).
According to Zhang et al. (2011), copying theory is a concept that revolves around actions or thoughts believed to be designed specifically for the purposes of identifying solutions to problematic scenarions. Zhang et al. (2011) add that the concept of copying is a flexible attribute (not fixed) hence applied in different suitable methods for distress prevention, control, or avoidance. It is important to note that copying theory is a contemporary concept given its contribution to reduction in stress within paramedics field (Zhang et al., 2011). Therefore, it is evident that paramedics have a better and deeper understanding of adjustment of specific issues through copying theory in a bid to achieving desired objectives on stressed clients (Zhang et al., 2011).
List of References
Lamond, N., & Dawson, D. (1999) Quantifying the performance impairment associated with fatigue. J Sleep Res, 8 (4): 255.
Lockley, S. W., Barger, L. K. & Ayas, N. T. (2007) Effects of health care provider work hours and sleep deprivation on safety and performance. Jt Comm J Qual Patient Saf, 33 (11): 7-18.
Owens, J., & Avidan, A. Y. (2006) Medical Education for Safety. The Quality Solution: The Stakeholder's Guide To Improving Health Care, 198.
Patterson, D., Suffoletto, B. P, & Kupas, D. (2010) Sleep quality and fatigue among prehospital providers. Prehosp Emerg Care, 14 (2): 187.
Patterson, D., Weaver, M. D, Frank R., et al. (2012). Association between sleep, fatigue, and safety outcomes in Emergency Medical Service providers. Prehosp Emerg Care 16 (1): 86-97.
Zhang, S., Higgins, E. T., & Chen, G. (2011). Managing others like you were managed: How prevention focus motivates copying interpersonal norms. Journal of personality and social psychology, 100 (4), 647.
