0349 Differences in Sleep on Working and off Days in Shift Working Nurses

Abstract Introduction Sleep deficiencies are common in nurses, with up to 89% of nurses working some form of shiftwork (i.e., working before 6am and/or after 9pm). It is estimated that approximately 34% of nurses report insomnia disorder and 14% report shift work sleep disorder. Nurses face unique physical, psychological, and occupational demands that disrupt their sleep quality and duration and may conflict with their natural circadian rhythm. Methods Nurses (N = 26, 88% female, 80% white, mean age = 36.16 years, SD = 8.56) were asked to wear an Actiwatch to measure objective sleep parameters, a daily adhesive sweat collection patch, provide two blood samples (at Day 1 and Day 7), and report daily subjective sleep parameters (total sleep time, sleep onset latency, wake after sleep onset, and sleep efficiency) via the Consensus Sleep Diary for 7 days. The sample was further divided into day shift (n = 14) and night shift (n = 12) nurses. Data collection and cleaning are ongoing and preliminary results of complete sleep diary data are presented. Results Results of the independent sample t tests suggest that total sleep time was significantly different on days on shift versus off shift (t(86) = 2.94, p = .002) for day shift nurses but not for night shift nurses (t(76) = .48, p = .317). There was no difference in total sleep time between day and night shift workers. Additional exploratory analyses will be completed by the conference, comparing additional parameters (e.g., timing) in individual sleep periods (i.e., 1st work day, 2nd work day; 1st off day, 2nd off day) both within (night 20 day and 20 night shift). Conclusion The results may indicate that day shift nurses have more variable sleep than night shift nurses. Further analyses will help fill gaps in our understanding of the deficient (i.e., inadequate, interrupted, mistimed) sleep in nurses (i.e., within and between day and night working), as well as inform potential interventions (i.e., CBTI for shift workers) to improve the sleep of critical nursing staff. Support (if any)