SLEEP DEPRIVATION

AMONG NURSES WORKING

NIGHT SHIFTCheryl Flaherty, ADN, CCRN, PCCN

Nursing 417

Boise State University

AS NURSES, WE OFTEN MAKE THE CARE OF OTHERS A PRIORITY.

But what about our health?

Nurses working the night shift all too often try to function on too little sleep, unaware they are endangering others.

Often they are even more unaware that their own health is at risk.

ARE NURSES CONCERNED ABOUT THEIR HEALTH RELATED TO SHIFT WORK?After to speaking with coworkers, I

found that some had concerns, but not enough to make lifestyle changes at this time.

ISSUES WITH SLEEP DEPRIVATION 56% of nurses are sleep deprived6

Increased risk of car accidents (responsible for 100,000 automobile crashes, 71,000 injuries, and 1,550 fatalities each year)4

Increased risk of medication errors (7,000 deaths annually)2

Falling asleep on the job Poor judgment Poor quality of life

(chronic fatigue)

EFFECTS TO OUR OWN HEALTH Circadium rhythm disturbance³

Increase in inflammatory markers¹

Increased risk of atherosclerosis in men and increase in cholesterol in both men and women

Poor eating habits/physical inactivity8

Increased risk of breast and endometrial cancers7

BE PROACTIVE WITH YOUR HEALTH Make sleep one of your top

priorities

Be aware of increased risk factors

Be more pleasant to those around you

Adopt a healthier lifestyle.

POST PRESENTATION Nurses more concerned

Some possibly willing to make lifestyle changes

Some now correlating current health problems with possible relation to shift work

¹Alireza, S., Khrsro, S., Omid, A., etal. (2011) Night work and inflammatory markers. Indian journal of occupational

and environmental medicine, 15(1) 38. Retrieved September 17, 2011 from

http://proquest.umi.com.libproxy.boisestate.edu/pqdweb?index=0&did=2404137171&srchmode=1&sid=1

&fmt=3&vinst=prod&vtype=pqd&rqt=309&vname=pqd&ts=1316401175&clientid=8813

²Anderson, P., & Townsend, T. (2010). Medication errors: don’t let them happen to you. American nurse today. Retrieved

October 15, 2011 from

http://www.americannursetoday.com/assets/0/434/436/440/6276/6334/6350/6356/8b8dac76-6061-

4521-8b43-d0928ef8de07.pdf

³Arendt, J. (2010) Shift work: coping with the biological clock. Occupational medicine, 60(1), 10-20. Retrieved September 18,

2011 from http://occmed.oxfordjournals.org.libproxy.boisestate.edu/content/60/1/10.full

4Breus, M. PhD. Chronic sleep deprivation may harm health. Sleep habits: more important than you think. Retrieved

October 20, 2011 from http://www.webmd.com/sleep-disorders/guide/important-sleep-habits

5Elovanio, M., Kivimaki, M., Puttones, S., et al. (2009) shift work in young adults and carotid artery intima

media thickness: the cardiovascular risk in young finns study. Atherosclerosis. 205(2), 608-

613. Retrieved September 18, 2011 from http://www.sciencedirect.com.libproxy.boisestate.edu

/science/article/pii/s0021915009000586

REFERENCES

6Johnson, A., Brown, K., & Weaver, M. (2010). Sleep deprivation and psychomotor performance among night

shift nurses. AAOHN journal, 58(4), 147-54. Retrieved September 17, 2011 from

http://proquest.umi.com.libproxy.boisestate.edu/pqdweb?index=1&did=202145681&srchmode=1

&sid=2&fmt=6&vinst=prod&vtype=pqd&rqt=309&vname=pqd&ts=1316401830&clientid=8813

7Poole, Elizabeth., Schernhammer, Eva S., & Tworoger, Shelley, S. (2011). Rotating night shift work and the risk of ovarian

cancer. Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers, & Prevention 20,934. Retrieved September 17, 2011 from

http://cebp.aacrjournals.org.libproxy.boisestate.edu/content/20/5/934.full

8Wong, H., Wong, M., Wong, S., et al. (2010) The association between shift duty and abnormal eating behavior among nurses

working in a major hospital: a cross sectional study. International Journal of Nursing Studies . 47(8), 1021-1027. Retrieved

September 18, 2011 from http://www.sciencedirect.com.libproxy.boisestate.edu/science/article/pii/S0020748910000027