e been based on three 12-hour shifts and one 4-hour shift or four 10-hour shifts, with two 12-hour and two 8-hour shift options available, chiefly to accommodate professional development and education (ANA, 1999c). In either case, the work week as a whole for an individual nurse spreads across four days, not the five of the standard 8-hour-day, 40-hour work week. Thus it can be argued that having three nonworking 24-hour days instead of the traditional two could offer the full-time nurse ample time to reclaim energy for productivity, as well as offer the nurse an ongoing opportunity to cope with family or other personal responsibilities during traditional business hours and/or days not just on weekends. On this view, employers (health-care organizations) and employees (e.g., caregivers such as nurses) alike could benefit from the establishment of a 12-hour/4-hour 40-hour standard.
2. Brown (1998) points out that flexible staffing, often initiated by employers, may appeal to many workers but is mainly "designed to satisfy the needs of the employer." Flexible sched
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