Registered Nurses' Experiences Taking Breaks on Night Shift: A Qualitative Analysis.

Area of Science:

• Nursing
• Occupational Health
• Workplace Psychology

Background:

• Night shift work presents fatigue challenges for healthcare professionals.
• Effective fatigue mitigation strategies include breaks, naps, and caffeine, but nurses report missed breaks.
• The reasons behind missed breaks for nurses remain under-explored.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore the lived experiences of hospital night shift nurses regarding their work breaks.
• To understand the meaning and significance of breaks within the hospital workplace context.

Main Methods:

• Qualitative study involving interviews with registered nurses (n=16) at a U.S. community hospital.
• Interpretive phenomenology methods were used for data analysis.

Main Results:

• Nurses perceived breaks primarily as time for eating.
• Unit-level structures and processes inconsistently supported break opportunities.
• Breaks were often viewed as a "luxury" rather than an essential "right".

Conclusions:

• Nurses reported a lack of consistent and restorative breaks during night shifts.
• Healthcare organizations must identify and address systemic gaps to ensure adequate break experiences for nurses.
• Optimizing break structures can improve nurse well-being and potentially mitigate fatigue.