The impact of a nap opportunity during the night shift on the performance and alertness of 12‐h shift workers

Purnell, Melissa T.; Feyer, Anne-Marie; Herbison, Peter

doi:10.1046/j.1365-2869.2002.00309.x

Cited by 193 publications

(168 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…A growing body of literature in areas outside of health care supports the concept that vigilance 45 and memory 46,47 are improved when workers are allowed to nap. Several studies support positive outcomes for on-duty napping by health professionals.…”

Section: Benefits Of Night Shift Nappingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Napping During Night Shift: Practices, Preferences, and Perceptions of Critical Care and Emergency Department Nurses

Fallis

McMillan

Edwards

2011

Critical Care Nurse

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BACKGROUND Nurses working night shifts are at risk for sleep deprivation, which threatens patient and nurse safety. Little nursing research has addressed napping, an effective strategy to improve performance, reduce fatigue, and increase vigilance.OBJECTIVE To explore nurses' perceptions, experiences, barriers, and safety issues related to napping/not napping during night shift.METHODS A convenience sample of critical care nurses working night shift were interviewed to explore demographics, work schedule and environment, and napping/ not napping experiences, perceptions, and barriers. Transcripts were constantly compared, and categories and themes were identified. RESULTS Participants were 13 critical care nurses with an average of 17 years' experience. Ten nurses napped regularly; 2 avoided napping because of sleep inertia. The need for and benefits of napping or not during night shift break were linked to patient and nurse safety. Ability to nap was affected by the demands of patient care and safety, staffing needs, and organizational and environmental factors.CONCLUSIONS Nurses identified personal health, safety, and patient care issues supporting the need for a restorative nap during night shift. Barriers to napping exist within the organization/work environment. (Critical Care Nurse. 2011;31[2]: e1-e11)

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Section: Benefits Of Night Shift Nappingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Napping During Night Shift: Practices, Preferences, and Perceptions of Critical Care and Emergency Department Nurses

Fallis

McMillan

Edwards

2011

Critical Care Nurse

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“…A 1-year study of industrial plant workers allowed a 1-h nap on the night shift noted that napping was feasible, accepted, improved workerÕs satisfaction with night work, and resulted in higher self-reported vigilance after the nap and a general improvement in quality of life (Bonneford et al, 2001). Among aircraft engineers, a 20-min nap (relative to no nap) improved response times on a vigilance task at the end of a 12-h night shift, but only on the first of two night shifts (Purnell et al, 2002). Nap sleep was not recorded and the nap did not improve subjective ratings of fatigue or sleepiness while driving home from work.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Scheduled napping as a countermeasure to sleepiness in air traffic controllers

Signal

Gander

Anderson³

et al. 2009

Journal of Sleep Research

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SUMMAR Y The aims of this study were to measure sleep during a planned nap on the night shift;and to use objective measures of performance and alertness to compare the effects of the nap opportunity versus staying awake. Twenty-eight air traffic controllers (mean age 36 years, nine women) completed four night shifts (two with early starts and two with late starts). Each type of night shift (early ⁄ late start) included a 40-min planned nap opportunity on one occasion and no nap on the other. Polysomnographic data were used to measure sleep and waking alertness [spectral power in the electroencephalogram (EEG) during the last hour of the night shift and the occurrence of slow rolling eye movements (SEMs) subsequent to the nap]. Psychomotor performance task [Psychomotor Vigilance Task (PVT)] was completed at the beginning and end of the shift, and after the nap (or an equivalent time if no nap was taken). Nap sleep latencies were relatively long (mean = 19 min) and total sleep time short (mean = 18 min), with minimal slow wave sleep (SWS, mean = 0%), and no rapid eye movement sleep. Nap sleep resulted in improved PVT performance (mean and slowest 10% of reaction time events), decreased spectral power in the EEG and reduced the likelihood of SEMs. The occurrence of SWS in the nap decreased spectral power in the EEG. This study indicates that although sleep taken at work is likely to be short and of poor quality it still results in an improvement in objective measures of alertness and performance.k e y w o r d s air traffic control, naps, neurophysiological alertness, night shift, psychomotor performance, within-subjects field study

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“…The benefits and detrimental consequences of night naps have already been examined in studies in which the time and length of sleep were fixed, either in the laboratory (3)(4)(5) or in real settings (1,(6)(7)(8)(9). In contrast, descriptions of real sleep episodes during nightwork outside any specific experiment and without any formal authorization are scarce (10).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%