The Medical journal of Australia
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About 1.5 million Australians are shift workers. Shift work is associated with adverse health, safety and performance outcomes. Circadian rhythm misalignment, inadequate and poor-quality sleep, and sleep disorders such as sleep apnoea, insomnia and shift work disorder (excessive sleepiness and/or insomnia temporally associated with the work schedule) contribute to these associations. ⋯ Short naps, which minimise sleep inertia, are generally effective. Shifting the circadian pacemaker with appropriately timed melatonin and/or bright light may be used to facilitate adjustment to a shift work schedule in some situations, such as a long sequence of night work. It is important to manage the health risk of shift workers by minimising vascular risk factors through dietary and other lifestyle approaches.
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To use an automated Classification of Hospital Acquired Diagnoses (CHADx) reporting system to report the incidence of hospital-acquired complications in inpatients and investigate the association between hospital-acquired complications and hospital length of stay (LOS) in multiday-stay patients. ⋯ An automated CHADx reporting system can be used to collect data on patients with hospital-acquired complications. Such data can be used to increase emphasis on patient safety and quality of care and identify potential opportunities to reduce LOS.