How Shift Work Impacts on Eating Behaviours Among Nurses: A Cross-Sectional Study

To evaluate differences in eating behaviours between nurses working exclusively daytime shifts and those engaged in night shift work.

A growing body of evidence suggests that night shift work exposed nurses to an increased risk of chronic conditions, including diabetes, metabolic syndrome, cardiovascular disease and cancer.

An online cross-sectional study was conducted in May 2022.

Nurses were recruited through their social media pages on Facebook and Instagram.

A total of 408 Italian nurses participated in the study. Of these, 26.7% worked exclusively daytime shifts (morning and afternoon), while 73.3% also worked night shifts. The majority of participants in both groups were younger than 40 years. Nurses working night shifts more frequently reported shorter professional experience, with < 5 years (daily: 8.1%; night: 25.7%) and < 10 years (daily: 2.2%; night: 21.3%) of employment (p < 0.001) and were more often employed on a full-time basis (p = 0.004). In contrast, a significant difference emerged in snack consumption between main meals (p = 0.002), with nurses working night shifts reporting a higher frequency of snacking (49.8%) compared with those working exclusively daytime shifts (22.3%).

Nurses working daytime shifts reported higher snack consumption compared with their night shift counterparts. Further research will be necessary to examine the nutritional composition of snacks and overall meal frequency.

No patient or public contribution.