2024 Volume 61 Issue 2 Pages 28-36
The purpose of this study was to determine the autonomic nervous system activation during sleep after the day shift and during naps during the night shift among nurses working 16-h shifts and sleep characteristics using a sleep-related scale. The participants were 14 mid-career nurses in their 20s–30s who worked night shifts about once a week. Sleep quality (PSQI-J) was investigated using a self-administered questionnaire method, measuring heart rate variability, low-frequency power (LF), high-frequency power (HF), and LF/HF values using a wearable heart rate sensor to determine sleep status during sleep after day shifts and during naps in night shifts. The results revealed that nurses working 16-hour shifts showed signs of sleep disturbance due to social jet lag and may have increased difficulty sleeping, especially when the sympathetic nervous system is dominant during naps in the night shift. It was also evident that nurses with LF/HF values >4.0 had high autonomic nervous system activation, which may prevent them from securing quality sleep.
