Table 1. Occupational characteristics of 54 724 women in the Nurses' Health Study II across key age periods of their working life*,†,‡.
| Age 20–25 | Age 26–35 | Age 36–45 | Age 46+ | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Characteristic | Per cent | Mean(SD) | Per cent | Mean(SD) | Per cent | Mean(SD) | Per cent | Mean(SD) |
| Occupation held the longest | – | – | – | – | ||||
| ER | 3.7 | 5.2 | 4.5 | 3.0 | ||||
| OR | 2.8 | 4.2 | 4.3 | 4.1 | ||||
| ICU | 18.2 | 17.0 | 9.4 | 5.6 | ||||
| Other inpatient nurse | 43.6 | 30.6 | 19.8 | 15.0 | ||||
| Nursing education or admin | 1.1 | 7.0 | 12.4 | 14.8 | ||||
| Outpatient or community | 3.0 | 9.2 | 14.9 | 16.8 | ||||
| Other hospital nursing | 9.5 | 8.2 | 7.5 | 7.7 | ||||
| Nursing outside hospital | 3.3 | 8.5 | 14.0 | 16.5 | ||||
| Non-nursing employment | 8.0 | 2.3 | 3.8 | 5.9 | ||||
| Full-time homemaker | 3.1 | 5.5 | 5.3 | 3.6 | ||||
| Retired | <1 | <1 | <1 | <1 | ||||
| Other | 3.5 | 2.0 | 3.7 | 5.8 | ||||
| Full-time work | 84.0 | 66.5 | 67.2 | 72.7 | ||||
| Primary work schedule | – | – | – | – | ||||
| Days/eves only | 44.6 | 61.3 | 72.6 | 80.0 | ||||
| Nights only | 14.3 | 12.6 | 9.9 | 7.1 | ||||
| Early mornings only | <1 | 1.3 | 2.2 | 2.8 | ||||
| Rotating with nights | 36.6 | 19.7 | 9.9 | 5.3 | ||||
| Rotating with no nights | <1 | <1 | <1 | <1 | ||||
| Other/did not work | 3.2 | 4.3 | 4.9 | 4.4 | ||||
| Years worked at occupation held the longest | 4.2 (1.4) | 7.8 (2.0) | 8.3 (1.6) | 7.2 (2.6) | ||||
| Total years of rotating night shifts§ | 3.0 (1.6) | 5.2 (2.9) | 6.0 (3.1) | 5.6 (3.4) | ||||
| Average night shifts per month¶ | 10.9 (6.1) | 10.7 (6.0) | 10.9 (6.0) | 11.1 (6.1) | ||||
| Average hours of sleep over a 24-hour period | 7.1 (1.0) | 6.9 (1.0) | 6.9 (1.0) | 7.0 (1.0) | ||||
*
54 724 women reported these occupational characteristics for each age range in 2009.
†
Values are crude means and SDs or percentages estimated among all work schedules (eg, day/eves, nights, early mornings, rotating with nights, rotating with no nights and other) and among women with both part-time and full-time schedules, unless otherwise indicated.
‡
May not add up to 100% due to rounding.
§
Values are estimated among women who reported a primary rotating with night shift schedule at the specific age range.
¶
Values are estimated among women who reported a primary rotating with nights or night shifts only schedule at the specific age range.
ER, emergency room; ICU, intensive care unit; OR, operating room.