Effects of changing the shift system of hospital nurses from 8-hour to 16-hour night shifts on their daily activities

Abstract

This study investigated the effects of changing the shift system of hospital nurses from 8-hour to 16-hour night shifts on their daily activities. Eighteen female nurses (mean age 38.0) participated in this study for successive two months. For the first one month, they were engaged in the two-shift system with 16-hour night shifts. They were engaged in the threeshift system with 8-hour night shifts for the next one month. The actual amount of work and daily activities were compared between the two systems by means of a time budget study. The results showed that there were no statistically significant differences in "sleep/nap" periods after the night shift and on the day off in night shift conditions. Although the time spent for "eating" just after a night shift was significantly longer after a 16-hour night shift (60.8±41.9 min) than after an 8-hour night shift (43.0±30.9 min), conversely the time for "hobby/amusement in place other than home" on a day off was significantly longer after an 8-hour night shift (234.6±276.0 min) than after a 16-hour night shift (161.5±173.6 min). These results suggested that changing to 16-hour night shifts did not improve the contents of daily activities.