Psychiatry and clinical neurosciences

How naps affect nurses' workload during 16-hour night shifts

Circadian Biology Weekly Brief ↗PubMed ↗DOI ↗

Updated

Abstract

Nurses experienced increased sleepiness, fatigue, and dullness immediately after a 2-hour nap during a night shift.

  • Sleepiness significantly decreased after napping, while fatigue and dullness returned to pre-nap levels.
  • The timing of the nap did not affect nurses' subjective symptoms post-nap.
  • Longer naps (> 1.5 hours) were associated with prolonged post-nap fatigue.
  • Careful consideration of nap length is important to prevent lasting sleep inertia during long night shifts.

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