ArticleHealthcare (Basel, Switzerland)2026
Informal Digital Coordination of Nurse Shift Swaps in a Saudi Tertiary Hospital: A Qualitative Descriptive Study.
Article in Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland), 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
Abstract
BACKGROUND/
objectivesNurses may use digital communication channels alongside formal rostering systems to negotiate shift swaps. How these practices are organized, governed, and experienced in Saudi hospitals remains insufficiently understood. This study explored how nurses in one tertiary hospital coordinated shift swaps through digital communication and navigated reciprocity, professional accountability, and access to scheduling flexibility.
methodsA qualitative descriptive study was conducted in a tertiary hospital in the Riyadh region, Saudi Arabia. Twenty-four registered nurses, recruited by purposive maximum-variation sampling from medical-surgical, intensive care, emergency, and specialty units, completed individual semi-structured interviews incorporating digital journey-mapping prompts. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed, de-identified, and analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis, reported with reference to the Reflexive Thematic Analysis Reporting Guidelines.
resultsFour interrelated themes were developed: (1) digital pathways of negotiation; (2) reciprocity as social currency; (3) managing risk and responsibility; and (4) collective coping and unequal flexibility. Private and group messaging supported initial negotiation, whereas managerial approval and formal roster documentation established legitimacy and accountability. Reciprocal assistance increased flexibility but could also generate obligation and reproduce inequalities associated with seniority, trust, and social integration.
conclusionsIn this hospital, digital shift-swap coordination operated alongside, rather than in place of, formal scheduling governance. Transparent procedures connecting peer communication with managerial approval may support flexibility while protecting fairness, documentation, professional boundaries, and appropriate staffing. These findings describe one purposively recruited sample in a single hospital and require evaluation in multi-center research.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.