The Prevalence of Sleep Deprivation Symptoms among Night Shift Nurses and Nurses’ Aides at the University Hospital of the West Indies

• Published in: Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting 2012-09, Vol.56 (1), p.797-800
• Main Authors: Green, Fernando M., Taveira, Alvaro D.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 1541-9312; 1071-1813; 2169-5067
• DOI: 10.1177/1071181312561166

Shift work is unavoidable in essential services such as health care. Even though working long hours into and through the night is often necessary, humans as diurnal creatures suffer adversely from it.The purpose of this study is to assess sleep related problems among nurses and nurses’ aides on the night shift at the University Hospital of the West Indies, located in Kingston, Jamaica. This information could hopefully assist hospital decision makers in better policy development. A cross-sectional study design was utilized focusing on the nursing staff on the night shift. Of a possible 176 participants 102 responded, for a response rate of 58%. The data was gathered using self-administered questionnaires and was analyzed using SPSS.The results of the study were mostly consistent with previous research on the topic. As predicted, a decrease in the number of hours of sleep was associated with increased difficulty staying awake on the job, irritability, tiredness and medical errors.