The relationship between sleep deprivation and nurses' working capacity
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.14528/snr.2018.52.1.186Keywords:
sleep deprivation, shift work, quality of life, nursesAbstract
Introduction: Sleeping is an active process that significantly influences the quality of work life. For this purpose, research on the relationship between sleep deprivation and the nurses' work performance was conducted.
Methods: A quantitative research conducted in 2014 and 2015 included the employees from one general hospital and two retirement facilities in Slovenia. With a simple contingency selection, the sample included 21.26 % (n = 81) of female nurses employed in the selected facilities. The data gathered from the survey (Cronbach α = 0.624) were analysed with descriptive statistics and correlation analysis.
Results: Most respondents work between three to seven night shifts per month (x = 3.76, s = 2.51). All the respondents suffer from insomnia (n = 81, 100 %), the majority have difficulties staying awake at work (n = 52, 64.2 %). Problems with staying awake at the work place are connected to poor general well-being (r = 0.236, p = 0.034) and are more common when working several night shifts per month (r = −0.322, p = 0.003). The respondents believe that sleep deprivation may increase the possibility of making professional errors (n = 60, 74.1 %), and slow down the response time to unexpected and urgent situations in their workplace (n = 58, 71.6 %). They also believe that sleep deprivation affects the quality of communication with patients (n = 48, 59.2 %).
Discussion and conclusion: Similar to other international research conducted on nurses, this study has also confirmed that sleep deprivation due to night shift work is associated with poorer general well-being, fatigue and decreased capacity to work.
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