Occupational stress and work efficiency of nursing staff engaged in rotating shift work

Abstract

Occupational stress and stress-related performance impairment is a common feature among hospital nurses engaged in rotating shift work, particularly night work. This cross-sectional survey determined workplace stress and cognitive efficiency of nursing staff engaged in rotating shift work. One hundred twenty-two full-time staff nurses in three different government hospitals in West Bengal, India, were the participants. Perceived exertion, alertness, sleep duration and various performance tests were performed. Sleep duration was least between repeated night shifts in comparison with the other shifts. Though alertness and performance of the staff nurses varied on different shifts, the late portion of the night shift as well as the early portion of the morning shift was most prone to impairment of work efficiency.

Keywords:

• rotating shift work
• staff nurse
• perceived exertion
• alertness
• performance evaluation
• cognitive efficiency

Acknowledgements

The authors are indebted to all the nursing personnel who volunteered for the study.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

The study was financially supported by University Research Scholarship (University of Kalyani) of Mr. Prasun Haldar and personal research grant of the University of Kalyani.