Staff perceptions of the 'Hospital at Night' in an NHS hospital.

The study explored staff perceptions of Hospital at Night (Hospital Night) following the implementation of the European Work Time Directive (EWTD). The study focused on the professional experiences of inter-professional working and learning. Initially the focus was on junior medical staff but later evolving into exploratory study of senior professionals particularly midwives. The Purpose of the EWTD was to ensure that patients were treated safely through reduction risk posed by fatigued junior doctors due limited sleep and rest when on duty. The purpose dichotomised into two goals exploring how compliance risks are managed and how senior professionals support strategy risks associated with Hospital Night.The scope of the study included 12 participating professionals from midwifery, nursing, radiography, laboratory science, anaesthesia, and the medical profession. The objectives were to: 1. Explore the experiences of professionals involved in the Hospital Night system. 2. Determine how participants describe the systems in place to maintain patient safety. 3. Investigate experience differences and similarities between professional groups. 4. Explore how participants describe their competences in team collaboration. 5. Describe how participants perceive the capability of the H N system in the Obstetric-Paediatric interface. Methods: The research tradition adopted was Grounded Theory. The data generation method was the in-depth discursive interview method. Key findings: The exploratory study made three inter-related contributions to professional learning within the organisation. These were the identification of unique learning needs arising from the Hospital Night initiative; the value of capturing and using information that arises from practice; and the recognition of opportunities to use incidents in the night for learning. Implications: The study shows how exploratory studies are best suited for investigating services after a change initiative. The study shows how the strategies used to address EWTD have generated crises at organisational, discipline, group and personal levels. Professional engagement could be improved through participation in various inter-professional learning activities.