Experiences and perceptions of nurses working night shift: a qualitative systematic review protocol

The objective of this qualitative systematic review is to examine the available evidence on the experiences of nurses working the night shift within any specialty in the acute care, subacute, or long-term care setting.

Nurses are required for round-the-clock patient care, and night shift nurses can experience detrimental effects as a result of their work hours. Understanding nurses' experiences when working night shift will facilitate the development of strategies to minimize the potential negative effects of working at night. In examining nurses' perceptions of working night shift, there is scope to explore how to improve night shift nurses' practice environment and job satisfaction, which will then translate to improved patient outcomes.

This review will consider qualitative studies that include registered nurses and licensed practical nurses who work night shift or rotate between day and night shift. Night supervisors and advanced practice nurses will be excluded due to the potential for dissimilar experiences and resources within those groups. The search will be limited to studies published in English from 1983 to the present.

The search strategy is designed to locate both published and unpublished qualitative studies by searching academic databases for published studies, gray literature, and hand searching reference lists. The study selection, critical appraisal, data extraction, and synthesis for this systematic review will be conducted in accordance with the JBI methodology for systematic reviews of qualitative evidence.

PROSPERO CRD42019135294.