Workplace sleepiness: organizational antecedents and consequences
Date
2007
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Abstract
The current research consists of two studies which investigate possible antecedents and consequences of workplace sleepiness experienced by Certified Nursing Assistants (CNAs) working in long-term care facilities. The first study explored the relationship between resident aggression (an occupational stressor) and workplace sleepiness. Resident aggression is a subtype of workplace aggression commonly experienced by CNAs working in long-term care facilities. Theory suggests that resident aggression may be associated with workplace sleepiness because resident aggression may lead to subsequent workplace sleepiness but also because workplace sleepiness may lead to subsequent resident aggression. To examine the causal nature of this relationship, this study assessed the relationships between resident aggression and subsequent workplace sleepiness and workplace sleepiness and subsequent resident aggression over the course of four consecutive work shifts. The results showed limited support for a positive relationship between resident aggression and subsequent workplace sleepiness, and no support for a relationship between workplace sleepiness and subsequent resident aggression. Future research might explore the process that might underlie the relationship between resident aggression and workplace sleepiness. Rumination and attribution were discussed as factors that might play a role in this process. The second study explored relationships between workplace sleepiness and aspects of occupational safety. Theoretically speaking, workplace sleepiness is thought to be associated with negative occupational safety outcomes such as injuries because sleepiness can lead to job performance decrements. In other words, it is thought that workplace sleepiness might lead to decrements in job performance and that these decrements could then lead to increases in occupational injuries. Therefore the second study explored safety performance (the safety related component of general job performance) as a mediator of this relationship. The results of the study suggest very limited support for safety performance as a mediator. This limited support might be the result of inadequacies in measures of safety performance. Some suggestions were offered for improving the measurement of this construct.
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Subject
Certified Nursing Assistants
long-term care
occupational safety
sleepiness
workplace