Effects of shift work on the quality of sleep and psychological health of the professional nurses

In modern society, shift work is very common, and health professionals, especially nurses, are bound to work in shift duties to provide round-the-clock health care to their patients throughout the year. Shift work disorder is a circadian rhythm disorder that is associated with sleep problems and sleepiness that usually occurs with the shift work.

To identify the effects of shift work on the quality of sleep and psychological health of professional nurses. Methodology: The research was conducted in different public and private hospitals of Karachi, Pakistan, on nurses with shift schedules.

Presently around 65.8% nurses performed eight night shifts per month and around 34.2% do more than eight night shifts per month. Various problems come across by nurses during shift work, which include physical, social, economic, psychological, and physiological health issues. Problems vary from individual to individual. Sleep quality of nurses was evaluated by using Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index and majority of nurses (56.3%) experienced poor sleep quality due to night shifts.

The results of the study suggest that shift duties caused physiological and psychological stress to nurses who work in shifts. Only few nurses preferred to work in shift duties. Thus, it was concluded that sleep evaluation strategies should be formulated to improve the quality of sleep and improve the process in delivering of quality of care to sick patients.