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> During the first 18 months of the trial the nurses working shorter hours logged less sick leave, reported better perceived health and boosted their productivi
by peeters 10y ago
> During the first 18 months of the trial the nurses working shorter hours logged less sick leave, reported better perceived health and boosted their productivity by organising 85% more activities for their patients, from nature walks to sing-a-longs.
How do you eliminate bias in a trial like this? I mean, a lot of people want to move to a 6-hour day, so they'll be working hard to prove they're productive in that format. That doesn't mean it'll be sustainable though once it becomes the new normal.
- erikb 10y agoAgreed. Not fully sure why we couldn't move there in steps. If 6 hours helps a lot, 7.5 hours should also show some improvement. And the cost to the economy is much smaller in case it's not working out.
- rileymat2 10y agoI am not sure this is the case. Maybe I am not thinking about this right, but if I feel like I can more effectively plan alternative activities that fit into 2 hours than I can an additional activity that would fit into 30 minutes. What I am saying, is there is no reason to believe that the benefits are linear. Think of it in another way, if I have to work one hour from 12 to 1, it removes any alternative activity that requires the whole day. I am just saying, that assuming it is a linear benefit is too big a jump for me.
- philh 10y agoerikb didn't assume the benefits were linear, just strictly increasing between 8 and 6.
- erikb 10y agoI thought so, too, but found in reality it's actually helpful. On one hand it doesn't really matter if you feel you have more time. On the other it also drastically increases your flexibility if you need to take off a few hours once, since that doesn't put you behind as many hours.
- johnchristopher 10y agoWhy isn't 18 months enough ?
- woliveirajr 10y agoI don't think someone can pretend to be less-sick, more pleased, working-harder for 18 months.
- dogma1138 10y agoOne person no a group yes. You assume that all bias is conscious which it isn't, you also assume that everyone who calls in sick is actually sick. Everyone here called in sick at least once when they weren't actually sick.
- vidarh 10y agoI'm very much in favour of shorter working days, but here is one way you can "pretend" to be less sick: Being sick is not a binary. We've all had days wher we feel like shit but figure we don't feel quite ill enough to stay at home, and so end up taking a couple of painkillers and favourite source of caffeine and end up working. Presumably the shorter the work day, the more likely you would be to consider it ok to push through it if you feel ill, especially if you have vested interest in demonstrating that a new arrangement like a 6 hour day "works". I'm not saying they did, but there are many ways they could plausibly sustain something like that for quite a while. The question is whether it is sustainable on a long term basis, or if it would change if/when a 6 hour day is no longer an experiment.
- jdietrich 10y agohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawthorne_effect https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawthorne_effect