Applied ergonomicsApr 22, 2008

Which parts of shift work affect healthcare workers’ well-being outside their shifts?

Circadian Biology Weekly Brief ↗PubMed ↗DOI ↗

Updated Apr 3, 2026

Abstract

Data from 906 healthcare professionals indicates that shiftwork characteristics significantly influence off-shift well-being.

Shift length, working Sundays, and other shift characteristics are linked to work-to-family conflict, physical well-being, and mental well-being.
Unique variance in off-shift well-being is explained by shiftwork characteristics beyond traditional work and family demands.
Different shiftwork characteristics have varying impacts on work-to-family conflict and overall well-being.
No national differences were found in how shift characteristics relate to well-being, despite systematic differences in demographics among countries.

Simplified

Characteristics of shiftwork schedules have implications for off-shift well-being. We examined the extent to which several shift characteristics (e.g., shift length, working sundays) are associated with three aspects of off-shift well-being: work-to-family conflict, physical well-being, and mental well-being. We also investigated whether these relationships differed in four nations. The Survey of Work and Time was completed by 906 healthcare professionals located in Australia, Brazil, Croatia, and the USA. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses supported the hypothesis that shiftwork characteristics account for significant unique variance in all three measures of well-being beyond that accounted for by work and family demands and personal characteristics. The patterns of regression weights indicated that particular shiftwork characteristics have differential relevance to indices of work-to-family conflict, physical well-being, and mental well-being. Our findings suggest that healthcare organizations should carefully consider the implications of shiftwork characteristics for off-shift well-being. Furthermore, although our findings did not indicate national differences in the nature of relationships between shift characteristics and well-being, shiftwork characteristics and demographics for healthcare professionals differ in systematic ways among nations; as such, effective solutions may be context-specific.

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Which parts of shift work affect healthcare workers’ well-being outside their shifts?

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