Anxiety scores increased significantly after night shifts, suggesting heightened stress levels in nurses.
Baseline cerebral oxygen saturation was identified as an independent predictor of both verbal fluency and anxiety scores.
The unique environmental factors of sub-plateau regions may exacerbate the effects of night shift work.
Simplified
Night shift work is an essential part of hospital nursing, but it can disrupt nurses' biological rhythms, leading to sleep deprivation and fatigue, affecting cognitive function and cerebral oxygenation. This impact may be exacerbated in sub-plateau regions due to environmental factors. Existing research on the effects of night shifts on the cognitive function and cerebral oxygenation of pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) nurses in sub-plateau areas needs to be more extensive. This study utilized near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) to measure 100 PICU nurses working in the sub-plateau area of Kunming, China, before and after their night shifts. The measured indicators included baseline , task performance, and anxiety scores. After the night shift, the nurses' baseline cerebral oxygen saturation significantly decreased (t(99)=-5.23, p < 0.001), their verbal fluency task performance significantly declined (t(99)=-6.42, p < 0.001), and their anxiety scores significantly increased (t(99) = 1.96, p = 0.05). Multiple regression analysis indicated that baseline cerebral oxygen saturation was an independent predictor of verbal fluency and anxiety scores. Night shift work may lead to sleep deprivation and fatigue among PICU nurses in sub-plateau areas, impairing their cognitive function and cerebral oxygenation. The environmental characteristics of sub-plateau areas may exacerbate these effects. It is recommended that nurses' sleep and mental health be considered when scheduling night shifts and that practical measures be implemented to mitigate the adverse cognitive effects of night shifts.
Key numbers
65.1%
Decrease in
after night shifts.
38.2
Decline in Score
score after night shifts.
9.5
Increase in
after night shifts.
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Declarations. Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests. Ethics approval and consent to participate: This study was approved by the Ethics Committee of Kunming Children’s Hospital (2023-03-269-K01). All participants gave written informed consent before taking part in the study.
