THE IMPACT OF SHIFT WORK ON THE METABOLISM AND CIRCADIAN RHYTHM IN NURSES AND MEDICAL TECHNICIANS

Providing in-patient nursing care inevitably involves shift work and shift patterns have been identified as an important factor in determining well-being and satisfaction among nurses. Shifts of 12 h or longer have become increasingly common for nurses in hospitals in some European countries. Longer...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Acta clinica Croatica (Tisak) 2021-09, Vol.60 (3), p.476-482
Main Authors: Ljevak, Ivona, Vasilj, Ivan, Lesko, Josip, Neuberg, Marijana, Perić, Olivera, Ćurlin, Marina
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Circadian Rhythm
Cortisol
Cross-Sectional Studies
Female
Humans
Male
Nurses
Original Scientific Papers
Prolactin
Shift Work Schedule
Sleep Wake Disorders
Work Schedule Tolerance
Citations: Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Providing in-patient nursing care inevitably involves shift work and shift patterns have been identified as an important factor in determining well-being and satisfaction among nurses. Shifts of 12 h or longer have become increasingly common for nurses in hospitals in some European countries. Longer shifts offer a potential to benefit from a compressed working week, with fewer work days and more days off-work, lower commuting costs, and increased flexibility. Most people find shift work less desirable compared to standard working hours. A cross-sectional cohort study was conducted at the Mostar University Hospital in 2019. A total of 157 subjects participated in the study, 22 (14%) of which were male (medical technicians) and 135 (86%) female (nurses). The mean age of study subjects was 33.3 years (min=20, max=54, SD=8.033). Results of this study suggested that nurses working irregular rotating shifts, with more family members to look after and more than 18 years of professional experience were affected by sleep disturbances between shifts. The study showed that shift work nurses had significantly higher levels of cortisol and prolactin compared with first-shift nurses/medical technicians. The results of this study are expected to stimulate further studies of sleep disturbances among shift nurses.
ISSN:0353-9466
1333-9451
DOI:10.20471/acc.2021.60.03.19