Adaptation to permanent night work: the number of consecutive work nights and motivated choice

To study the effects of different patterns of days on and days off duty within a permanent night shift schedule, we studied two groups of female permanent night nurses, one (n = 42) working 'many' nights in a row, and the other (n = 36) working 'few' nights in a row. The groups were matched for several important moderating variables. All nurses were interviewed individually, and they answered several questionnaires. A MANOVA revealed no statistically significant differences in subjective health between the two groups. Nor was any difference found for satisfaction measures. The many-night group however seemed to put more effort into dealing with their schedule; they used more active coping, had a higher cigarette consumption, and engaged more in sport. They also stayed one hour less in bed during the day after the last night shift. It is concluded that neither schedule was a clear threat to subjective health because the acceptance of permanent night work was the result of a motivated choice and because social support was high. The differences between the two schedules were not large enough to suggest that one of them should be favoured over the other.