A comparison of nurse shift workers' and non-shift workers' psychological functioning and resilience

Abstract

AIMS: To investigate the impact of shift work on the psychological functioning and resilience of nurses by comparing nurses who work shifts and nurses who work regular hours. DESIGN: A comparative descriptive design using an online self-report questionnaire. METHOD: Data were collected from employed Registered and Enrolled Nurses (N=1369) who were members of the Queensland Nurses and Midwives Union in 2013. The survey included standardised measures of resilience, depression, anxiety, compassion satisfaction, compassion fatigue and intention to leave the profession. RESULTS: Generalised Linear Mixed Model analysis revealed shift workers had significantly lower levels of compassion satisfaction. However, there were no significant differences between the groups on resilience, depression, anxiety, stress, compassion fatigue or intention to leave nursing. CONCLUSION: The findings suggest that shift work is not associated with worse psychological functioning or lower resilience in nurses. However, this study requires replication using a longitudinal design to confirm these findings. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.