141st APHA Annual Meeting

In This section

279837
Effects of napping on fatigue and sleepiness during a 16-hour night shift among hospital nurses.-the influence of the start and length of nap-

Sunday, November 3, 2013

Sanae Oriyama, PhD, RN , Graduate School of Health Sciences, Okayama University, Okayama, Japan
Yukiko Miyakoshi, PhD, PHN, RN , Hiroshima University, Health Sciences Major Graduate School of Health Sciences, Hiroshima, Japan
Toshio Kobayashi, PhD, MD , Hiroshima University, Health Sciences Major Graduate School of Health Sciences, Hiroshima, Japan
Michiyo Kayahara, MS, RN , Okayama Saiseikai General Hospital, Okayama, Japan
This study aimed to identify effective ways of nap among nurses in order to achieve fatigue recovery and reduce sleepiness during 16-hour night shifts (15:15-8:45). Subjects were 12 nurses in their 20s, and their heart rate variability (HRV) was measured during the 16-hour night shift. Questionnaires were also completed at the following 6 time-points to investigate subjective sleepiness and fatigue: at the initiation of the night shift, at 21:00, before and after taking a nap, at 6:00, and at the end of the night shift. As the results, the subjects who took naps during the first half of the night shift (between 22:00 and 2:00) reported significantly increased sleepiness before the napping time until the end of the night shift compared to the initiation of the night shift, regardless of whether the nap time was more or less than 120 minutes. The subjects who took nap more than 120-min between 1:00 and 4:00 reported increased sleepiness before and after the nap, but their sleepiness was reduced after 6:00. They also reported significantly increased sense of fatigue before the nap time until the end of the night shift. Concerning the variation in HRV, the subjects who took nap more than 120-min showed increased high-frequency HRV after the nap compared to those who took nap less than 120-min. These results revealed that taking nap during the 16-hour night shift can reduce the physical burden, and that taking nap during the second half of the night shift can improve sleepiness in the morning.

Learning Areas:
Occupational health and safety

Learning Objectives:
Discuss the method of the fatigue reduction during the 16-hour night shift.

Keywords: Health Care Workers, Risk Factors

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: Nurse
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.