Nutrition of rotating and daytime shift nurses in medical wards and factors influencing their food choices: A cross-sectional observational study

Background Nutrition is a key component in primary prevention. Shift-working nurses, although trained to follow irregular schedules, often struggle to maintain a healthy diet, which can have potential long-term negative effects on their health. Aim This study aimed to investigate the eating habits of rotating and daytime shift-working nurses in the medical wards of three hospitals in the Canton of Ticino (Switzerland), along with the intrinsic and extrinsic factors influencing their dietary choices. Methods This study employed a cross-sectional observational design. We emailed an anonymous online questionnaire to nurses working in medical wards with at least 6 months of experience. Among the nurses surveyed (n = 127), 15.0% reported following a healthy diet and 32.3% were overweight or obese. Participants consumed insufficient daily portions of fruits, vegetables, cereals and dairy products, while reporting a high weekly intake of foods rich in salt and sugar, and showed irregular meal patterns. In unadjusted subgroup analyses, younger nurses and night-shift workers tended to show less favourable eating patterns. The most commonly cited barriers to healthy eating were work-related fatigue and stress. Summary The study identified several unhealthy eating behaviours in this sample. The findings suggest that younger nurses, full-time nurses and those working night shifts may be relevant targets for workplace health promotion; however, interpret subgroup differences cautiously because they were exploratory and were not retained after adjustment for multiple testing in sensitivity analyses.