Symptomatic Discomforts among Nurses on Long-Term Routine Night Work

Objectives: This study aims to explore the effects of long-term routine night work on the physical and mental health of nurses, which provides worker safety and health authorities as well as employers with adequate evidences for the modification of the working environment and shift work assignments.Method: Nurses who applied for long-term (12 months) routine night shift on October 1 2012 were included in this cross-sectional, descriptive model-based study. This study is divided into two phases: the first phase involves in-depth interviews with the routine night-working nurses held by psychologists of the Worker Safety Office, where the information collected in the interviews was used to develop the questionnaires. These were used to investigate the physical and mental discomforts experienced by long-term, routine night-working nurses for the second phase of the study. This self-developed questionnaire was revised based on expert validity tests and pre-testing. Administered online, the authentication keys for the questionnaires were randomly distributed to interviewees to ensure that the questionnaires were answered by themselves, the confidentiality of questionnaire administration, and the integrity of the answers. Statistical methods, including non-parametric and chi-square methods, were used to explore correlations.Results: Nurses on long-term, routine night works have higher mean scores in the five discomfort dimensions, where the mean scores for "physical discomforts" and “gastrointestinal problems” were significantly higher than before engaging in routine night work (p < .05).Conclusion: More days off (one day off every two days of work, or two to three days off every four days of work) are required for nurses on long-term routine night working. Administrators should also provide annual health examinations to these individuals to monitor their health conditions. Standards for control should also be established to assess their suitability for this work pattern.