Skip to main content
PMC home page
American Journal of Public Health logoLink to American Journal of Public Health
. 1992 Jul;82(7):1011–1014. doi: 10.2105/ajph.82.7.1011

Rotating shift work, sleep, and accidents related to sleepiness in hospital nurses.

D R Gold 1, S Rogacz 1, N Bock 1, T D Tosteson 1, T M Baum 1, F E Speizer 1, C A Czeisler 1
PMCID: PMC1694075  PMID: 1609900

Abstract

A hospital-based survey on shift work, sleep, and accidents was carried out among 635 Massachusetts nurses. In comparison to nurses who worked only day/evening shifts, rotators had more sleep/wake cycle disruption and nodded off more at work. Rotators had twice the odds of nodding off while driving to or from work and twice the odds of a reported accident or error related to sleepiness. Application of circadian principles to the design of hospital work schedules may result in improved health and safety for nurses and patients.

Full text

PDF
1011

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Adams J., Folkard S., Young M. Coping strategies used by nurses on night duty. Ergonomics. 1986 Feb;29(2):185–196. doi: 10.1080/00140138608968259. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Akerstedt T. Sleepiness as a consequence of shift work. Sleep. 1988 Feb;11(1):17–34. doi: 10.1093/sleep/11.1.17. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. BJERNER B., SWENSSON A. Schichtarbeit und Rhythmus. Acta Med Scand Suppl. 1953;278:102–107. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Czeisler C. A., Moore-Ede M. C., Coleman R. H. Rotating shift work schedules that disrupt sleep are improved by applying circadian principles. Science. 1982 Jul 30;217(4558):460–463. doi: 10.1126/science.7089576. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Czeisler C. A., Weitzman E. d., Moore-Ede M. C., Zimmerman J. C., Knauer R. S. Human sleep: its duration and organization depend on its circadian phase. Science. 1980 Dec 12;210(4475):1264–1267. doi: 10.1126/science.7434029. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Dinges D. F., Orne M. T., Whitehouse W. G., Orne E. C. Temporal placement of a nap for alertness: contributions of circadian phase and prior wakefulness. Sleep. 1987 Aug;10(4):313–329. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Durnford S. Junior hospital doctors: tired and tested. BMJ. 1988 Oct 15;297(6654):931–932. doi: 10.1136/bmj.297.6654.931. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Folkard S., Haines S. M. Adjustment to night in full and part-time night nurses [proceedings]. J Physiol. 1977 May;267(1):23P–24P. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Folkard S., Monk T. H., Lobban M. C. Short and long-term adjustment of circadian rhythms in 'permanent' night nurses. Ergonomics. 1978 Oct;21(10):785–799. doi: 10.1080/00140137808931782. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Friedman R. C., Bigger J. T., Kornfeld D. S. The intern and sleep loss. N Engl J Med. 1971 Jul 22;285(4):201–203. doi: 10.1056/NEJM197107222850405. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Gordon N. P., Cleary P. D., Parker C. E., Czeisler C. A. The prevalence and health impact of shiftwork. Am J Public Health. 1986 Oct;76(10):1225–1228. doi: 10.2105/ajph.76.10.1225. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Knauth P., Rutenfranz J. Development of criteria for the design of shiftwork systems. J Hum Ergol (Tokyo) 1982;11 (Suppl):337–367. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Lurie N., Rank B., Parenti C., Woolley T., Snoke W. How do house officers spend their nights? A time study of internal medicine house staff on call. N Engl J Med. 1989 Jun 22;320(25):1673–1677. doi: 10.1056/NEJM198906223202507. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Minors D. S., Waterhouse J. M. Anchor sleep as a synchronizer of rhythms on abnormal routines. Int J Chronobiol. 1981;7(3):165–188. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Moore-Ede M. C., Czeisler C. A., Richardson G. S. Circadian timekeeping in health and disease. Part 2. Clinical implications of circadian rhythmicity. N Engl J Med. 1983 Sep 1;309(9):530–536. doi: 10.1056/NEJM198309013090905. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from American Journal of Public Health are provided here courtesy of American Public Health Association

RESOURCES