title: An industry case study of 'stand-up' and 'sleepover' night shifts in disability support: Residential support worker perspectives.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Residential support workers (RSW) engage in overnight "sleepover" shifts as well as more traditional "standup" night shifts. While research has investigated the consequences of night and on-call work for sleep in other industries, the sleep of RSW has not been evaluated.
  
  
  METHODS
  In a single-provider case study, six employees completed the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS), a 2-week sleep diary, and a 30 min interview, and four also completed the Shirom-Melamed Burnout Measure (SMBM).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Participants reported sleep of poor quality, low-mild DASS scores, and evidence of SMBM scores that were elevated relative to norms. Sleep was significantly lower (p < 0.01) following "standup" shifts (mean = 4.1, SD = 1.8 h) and during "sleepover" shifts (mean = 5.6, SD = 2.0 h) compared to non-shift nights (mean = 7.3, SD = 2.3 h). Interviews suggested that sleep fluctuates with level of patient care, colleague assistance, stress, and the quality of the sleeping environment (including bed comfort, light, noise and perceived safety).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Findings suggest that this group have sleep that is insufficient and of poor quality and that they may be at risk of burnout. Consideration of ways to optimise sleeping conditions at work (e.g. through noise or stress reduction) would be beneficial. Research in this area has the potential to facilitate improvements in health and safety in this growing industry.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Sleep Research, School of Psychology, Social Work and Social Policy, University of South Australia City East Campus, P7-35 Playford Building, Frome Rd, Adelaide, 5000, Australia. Electronic address: Jill.dorrian@unisa.edu.au.
authors.forename: Jillian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Dorrian
authors.affiliation: Centre for Sleep Research, School of Psychology, Social Work and Social Policy, University of South Australia City East Campus, P7-35 Playford Building, Frome Rd, Adelaide, 5000, Australia. Electronic address: Crystal.grant@unisa.edu.au.
authors.forename: Crystal
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Grant
authors.affiliation: Centre for Sleep Research, School of Psychology, Social Work and Social Policy, University of South Australia City East Campus, P7-35 Playford Building, Frome Rd, Adelaide, 5000, Australia. Electronic address: Siobhan.banks@unisa.edu.au.
authors.forename: Siobhan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Banks
mesh_terms: D002055:Burnout, Professional / Q000209:etiology; D006233:Persons with Disabilities; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D016272:Occupational Health; D019982:Organizational Case Studies; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012112:Residential Facilities; D012890:Sleep; D012892:Sleep Deprivation / Q000517:prevention & control; D000070263:Sleep Hygiene; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014940:Work Schedule Tolerance / Q000502:physiology* / Q000523:psychology*
keywords: Aged care; Burnout; Disability; Residential support; Sleep