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. 2021 Jan 20;18(3):891.
doi: 10.3390/ijerph18030891.

Scheduled Naps Improve Drowsiness and Quality of Nursing Care among 12-Hour Shift Nurses

Kihye Han  1 , Heejeong Hwang  2 , Eunyoung Lim  2 , Mirang Jung  2 , Jihye Lee  2 , Eunyoung Lim  2 , Sunhee Lee  2 , Yeon-Hee Kim  3 , Smi Choi-Kwon  4 , Hyang Baek  5
Affiliations

Scheduled Naps Improve Drowsiness and Quality of Nursing Care among 12-Hour Shift Nurses

Kihye Han et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. .

Abstract

Scheduled naps in the workplace are an effective countermeasure to drowsiness in safety-sensitive industries. This quasi-experimental study with a one-group, pre- and post-test design aimed to examine the effects of scheduled naps on nurses working 12-h shifts. Nurses in two pediatric intensive care units at a tertiary hospital were provided 30-min scheduled nap opportunities during their shifts. A total of 38 nurses completed pre- and post-test work diaries for sleepiness, fatigue, work demands and pace, and quality of nursing care at the end of each shift. The drowsiness of 13 nurses was continuously assessed during their shifts using infrared reflectance oculography. Nurses who reached naps reported improved levels of fatigue on the first night shift and better quality of nursing care the second night and day shifts post-test, while nurses who did not reach naps showed no significant improvements. The oculography successfully assessed drowsiness during 73% and 61% of the pre- and post-test total work hours, respectively. The total cautionary and cautionary or higher levels of drowsiness decreased. Nurse managers should consider scheduled naps in clinical settings to improve nurses' alertness during their shifts.

Keywords: Korea; drowsiness; extended work hours; fatigue; nurse; scheduled naps.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest. The funders had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript, or in the decision to publish the results.

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