Nurses' attitudes towards shiftwork and quality of life

The repercussions on the social and family life of shiftworkers are important. The objectives of this work are to compare the attitudes to permanent and rotating shiftwork, and the impact of shiftwork on social and family life. A cross-sectional epidemiological study was carried out in 606 female and 367 male nurses chosen at random from public hospitals in the Valencian region. Information was gathered by means of a questionnaire, and descriptive analysis was carried out. It can be concluded that workers on rotating shifts who are dissatisfied with their working hours give incompatibility with social and family life as the main reason. Furthermore, working nights (permanently or rotating) disturbs harmony between working hours and days off of the spouse.