Strain and health implications of nurses' shift work.
OBJECTIVE
The study investigated whether nurses' different working schedules are associated with different levels of job-related strain, health symptoms and behavior. No reports have been accessible in the relevant literature on the possible association between shift work and job-related strain in nurses.


METHODS
This was a cross-sectional study conducted at a large university hospital in North-East Italy, involving 806 nurses working in selected departments. A multilevel logistic regression was applied to assess the association between work shift conditions and selected outcomes.


RESULTS
Night shifts were associated not only with higher odds of having a high Job Demand, but also with lower odds of having a high Decision Authority and consequently with a stronger likelihood of having higher levels of Job Strain (high Job Demand score ≥ 38 and Low Decision Authority). The night shift was associated with various symptoms, particularly exhaustion (p = 0.039) and gastric pain (p = 0.020). Nurses' working schedules did not affect their job satisfaction scores.


CONCLUSIONS
It has been confirmed that night shifts are a risk factor for nurses' health perception and working night shifts carries a considerable degree of strain. This is a condition that hospital nursing managements need to consider carefully to avoid burnout in nursing personnel and prevent an excessive turnover in this profession, which is a recurring problem for health care organizations.
Department of Molecular Medicine, Laboratory of Public Health and Population Studies, Padua University, Padua, Italy, alessandra.buja@unipd.it.
Alessandra
A
Buja
Alessandra
A
Zampieron
Giuseppe
G
Mastrangelo
Marco
M
Petean
Angela
A
Vinelli
Diana
D
Cerne
Vincenzo
V
Baldo
D015746:Abdominal Pain / Q000209:etiology; D000328:Adult; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005221:Fatigue / Q000209:etiology; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006785:Hospitals, University; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy; D007588:Job Satisfaction; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009741:Nursing Staff, Hospital / Q000523:psychology*; D016272:Occupational Health; D017009:Professional Autonomy; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000523:psychology*; D014940:Work Schedule Tolerance / Q000523:psychology*; D016526:Workload