Abstract
Background: Most medical institutions require long work hours, making nurse health risk an important issue. Methods: This longitudinal study involved 26 pregnant and non-pregnant Japanese nurses in whom we compared fatigue, intensity of physical activity, and quality of sleep for each working time throughout the course of the day shift, night shift, and day off. Results: Subjective fatigue increased after each shift. The cumulative fatigue symptoms index (CFSI) score was higher in non-pregnant nurses. Continued sympathetic nerve predominant state and higher activity level were found in non-pregnant nurses compared to pregnant nurses. Conclusion: Non-pregnant nurses had a higher level of fatigue according to CFSI, and they were in a stressful state throughout the night shift.
Highlights
A large-scale cohort study of female nurses engaged in shift work revealed that continuously working night shifts increases the risk of coronary heart disease (CHD)
The cumulative fatigue symptoms index (CFSI) score was higher in non-pregnant nurses
The proportion of prolonged night shifts of ≥16 hours has not changed in recent years and accounts for over half at 52.5%, which is a serious situation eliciting concern over the impact of long night shifts on patient safety and the health of nursing staff.3When subjective fatigue persists, it leads to cumulative fatigue, which makes it difficult to recover
Summary
A large-scale cohort study of female nurses engaged in shift work revealed that continuously working night shifts increases the risk of coronary heart disease (CHD). It was found that the risk of CHD reduces after a long period has passed after quitting such shift work [1]. The proportion of prolonged night shifts of ≥16 hours has not changed in recent years and accounts for over half at 52.5%, which is a serious situation eliciting concern over the impact of long night shifts on patient safety and the health of nursing staff.3When subjective fatigue persists, it leads to cumulative fatigue, which makes it difficult to recover. In hospitals with a heavy night shift load, the turnover rate tends to be high, and the most common reason for the nursing staff to quit their jobs is for “childbirth and childcare,” accounting for 22.1% [5]
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