. Subjects were 620 female nurses (Average age: 23.9) who started their careers in April 1997 and continued working in the same hospitals for two years and three months until the time of the survey. A questionnaire consisting mainly of items concerning sleep disorders from the Japanese version of the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index was distributed to the subjects.Results: Significant associations were observed between working on night shift and the use of alcoholic beverages to help induce sleep, and between working on night shift and daytime drowsiness. Significant differences were also observed between two and three-shift systems with regard to subjective sleep quality. Moreover, average hours of sleep were significantly associated with three related sleep items: subjective sleep quality, difficulty in getting to sleep, and daytime drowsiness. Conclusion: Results suggest that in Japanese shift-work systems, sufficient sleep hours are needed for nurses who work night shift to ensure good quality of sleep and consequently better services for patients. (J Occup Health 2001; 43: 150-156)

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The study was carried to investigate on the actual conditions related to smoking of the nurses working in all medical institutions under a regional medical association in Mie Prefecture (regional medical institutions). Results obtained were as follows: smoking prevalence of female nurses is considered to be equal to that of the general female population in Japan. About 35% of the nurses with the smoking habit had an opinion to quit it, and about 45% of them practiced it seriously. Nearly 80% nurses favored restriction. In the way of thinking related to smoking, more than 90% of the nurses answered that women should not smoke for the health of the fetuses and infants, while only about 30% of them agreed to stop smoking working as members of the medical staff. The survey suggests that anti-smoking program is necessary to develop for smoking nurses working at medical facilities.