Nurses' workload associated with 16-h night shifts on the 2-shift system. I: Comparison with the 3-shift system.
To assess nurses' workload with 16-h night shifts on a 2-shift system, we investigated the differences between workloads with each shift on the 2- and 3-shift systems with questionnaires on subjective symptoms and measuring heart rate and physical activity. It was found that the 2-shift nurses during the 16-h night shifts complained of fatigue less frequently and showed general decreases in heart rate and physical activity compared with the 3-shift nurses during 8-h evening and night shifts. The results suggest that a 2-h nap, an increase of staff, and a day off may reduce the nurses' workload when they have 16-h night shifts.
Fukuda
H
H
National Institute of Industrial Health, Kawasaki, Japan.
Takahashi
M
M
Airto
H
H
D000328:Adult; D001143:Arousal; D002940:Circadian Rhythm; D005221:Fatigue / Q000209:etiology*; D005260:Female; D006785:Hospitals, University; D006801:Humans; D009741:Nursing Staff, Hospital; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000209:etiology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014940:Work Schedule Tolerance; D016526:Workload