SHIFT WORK AND ITS IMPACT ON NURSES’ SLEEP QUALITY, RESILIENCE, AND EMOTIONAL REGULATION

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to examine how shift schedule affects sleep quality, resilience and emotional regulation of nurses. Nurses with day shifts and night shifts (50:50) of 130 total (50:50) nurses in public and private hospitals were engaged in the sample. Standardized measures were given such as the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), Connor Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC) and the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ). Findings showed that there were significant differences in day and night shift nurses in sleep quality (t (128) = -2.23, p =.027, d =.40), expressive suppression (t (128) = 2.44, p =.016, d =.46) and resilience (t (128) = 2.08, p =.039, d =.37) and no significant difference in cognitive reappraisal was found. Correlational analyses revealed that low levels of resilience were negatively correlated with poor sleep quality (r= -.502, p= -.01) and that high levels of expressive suppression had positive relationships with poor sleep quality (r= +0.432, p= -.01). Such results indicate that working during the night alters sleep that subsequently blunts resilience and leads to maladaptive emotion regulation patterns. The findings indicate the significance of institutional-level-based interventions that facilitate sleep hygiene, resilience training, and emotional wellbeing in nurses. The combination of mindfulness-based and cognitive-behavioral initiatives can also reduce the negative psychological and physiological impact of shift work, and eventually improve the welfare of nurses and patient outcomes.