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Rotating shift work, sleep, and accidents related to sleepiness in hospital nurses
1Channing Laboratory, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115.
American Journal of Public Health
|July 1, 1992
Abstract:
A hospital-based survey on shift work, sleep, and accidents was carried out among 635 Massachusetts nurses. In comparison to nurses who worked only day/evening shifts, rotators had more sleep/wake cycle disruption and nodded off more at work. Rotators had twice the odds of nodding off while driving to or from work and twice the odds of a reported accident or error related to sleepiness. Application of circadian principles to the design of hospital work schedules may result in improved health and safety for nurses and patients.