A comparison of sleep quality, quality of life, and psychological complaints of nurses working shift work and not working shift work in a university hospital

INTRODUCTION: Inpatient health institutions provide continuous service. Nursing service in these institutions continues on a shift basis. The mental difficulties of working on the shift in maintaining the profession of nurse have been shown in the literature before. This study aims to emphasize the possible psychological effects of working on a shift basis and the factors that may affect the nurse’s quality of life from a broad perspective.
METHODS: A total of 114 nurses working on shift (n=51) and not working on change (n=63) at Tokat Gaziosmanpaşa University Hospital were included in the study. The sociodemographic data form, generalized anxiety disorder scale-7 (GAD-7), patient health questionnaire-9 (HSQ-9), Pittsburgh sleep quality index (PUKI), and Short Form-36 (SF) were filled out by the participants.
RESULTS: No statistically significant difference existed between the GAD-7 and HSQ-9 scale mean scores and the PUKI and SF-36 subscale mean scores between the groups with and without a shift. In evaluating the PUKI total score results, it was determined that the sleep quality of the participants in both the shift-working and non-shift-working groups was poor. According to the results of the correlation analysis, the PUKI total score averages of the participants showed a positive correlation with the GAD-7 and HSQ-9 mean scores. It was determined that the mean score of the SF Mental Component (SFMC) and SF Physical Component (SFPC) showed a negative correlation with the mean score of GAD-7 and HSQ-9 for the SFPC scores of the HSA-9 scale mean scores. The GAD-7 scale mean scores were found to be predictive of SFMC scores.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: On-shift working is ineffective on quality of life and sleep. It was determined that anxiety and depressive symptoms adversely affected the quality of life and sleep. With these results, studies on nurse quality of life and sleep quality need to be evaluated from a broader perspective.