title: Nurses' workload associated with 16-h night shifts. II: Effects of a nap taken during the shifts.
abstract: This study aimed at examining the effects on the subjective symptoms in nurses of both timing and length of a 2-h nap during a 16-h night shift. Compared to pre-nap levels, sleepiness, fatigue, and dullness increased immediately after napping. Afterwards, sleepiness decreased significantly, and the other symptoms returned to the pre-nap values. The nurses' subjective symptoms after napping were not associated with the timing of the nap and post-nap fatigue lasted longer as the nap time increased (> 1.5 h). These results suggest that for effective napping during long night shifts, the nap length should be determined carefully to avoid persistent sleep inertia.
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Industrial Health, Kawasaki, Japan.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Takahashi
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Arito
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Fukuda
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001143:Arousal; D002940:Circadian Rhythm; D005221:Fatigue / Q000209:etiology*; D005260:Female; D006339:Heart Rate; D006801:Humans; D009741:Nursing Staff, Hospital; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000209:etiology*; D012890:Sleep; D014851:Wakefulness; D014940:Work Schedule Tolerance; D016526:Workload