How Working The Night Shift Can Affect Your Health

There's been a lot in the news lately about people who work the late shift and have trouble staying awake, in particular about air traffic controllers. One group of people who seem to have developed a system to avoid the same problems of falling asleep on the job, even in the face of extreme sleep deprivation: nurses.

Their system, however, may be seriously confusing their bodies. According to a recent article, some nurses go without sleep for 24 hours in order to adjust to their late-night shifts; Not only is this ineffective, it's also potentially harmful:

• When you don't sleep for that long, your sleep/wake patterns end up out of sync with your biological clock
• This leads to a misalignment of your circadian rhythms
• This kind of circadian misalignment has been associated with increased risk of developing cardiovascular, metabolic and gastrointestinal disorders

We have a set of internal rhythms that repeat roughly every 24 hours: the sleep-wake cycle, hunger, the ebb and flow of hormones, the rise and fall of body temperature, and other subtle rhythms that mesh with the 24-hour solar day. In fact, a lot of people's sleep problems can be attributed to an internal clock that has become out of sync or mismatched with the day-night cycle. Sometimes your body's clock just doesn't quite match up with society's 24-hour clock.

Many nurses work 12-hour shifts, and if a nurse works three night shifts in a row and then has a few days off, that means he or she is returning to a normal sleep schedule on days off and repeating the 24-hours of no sleep preparation a few times a week.

Jet lag is the most familiar and mild example of people's sleep and biological clocks not lining up; going multiple 24-hour stretches without sleeping is much, much more risky.

Nurses aren't alone in the struggle to work odd-hour shifts. According to U.S. labor statistics, about 20 percent of the workforce, or about 19.7 million U.S. workers, are early risers who begin work between 2:30 a.m. and 7 a.m. If you're one of those people, I'm very impressed -- and I hope that you aren't resorting to methods like the ones some nurses are using. While it may help in the short term, the long term benefit of messing with your circadian rhythms is anything but helpful.  Instead, try napping if you can (and if it is safe to do so) and try to stick to as regular a sleep routine as possible.

Sweet Dreams,

Michael J. Breus, PhD
The Sleep Doctor™
www.thesleepdoctor.com

Everything you do, you do better with a good night's sleep™
twitter: @thesleepdoctor
Facebook: 

www.facebook.com/thesleepdoctor

 

 

 

 

Follow Dr. Michael J. Breus on Twitter: www.twitter.com/thesleepdoctor

Comments

[Michele Paiva]

07:03 PM on 07/12/2011

I agree with this article and for length, it does a great job but people need to be aware (I literally wrote a book on this topic) that lack of sleep can play havoc with your mood and thyroid. Your ability to handle minor stress is compromised to such an extent that your cortisol levels fly high, and every hormone in your body, including, for a woman, her menstrual cycle, cysts in breast and fertility - can be problematic. For both genders, risk of digestive issues skyrocket and from there, we see increased metabolism issues with weight gain and, a strong increase of depression, bipolar and anxiety.
Sleep is incredibly important but oddly our culture makes it like some strength when they do without sleep. People brag, "I only had four hours of sleep and I'm fine!" meanwhile they are not fine at all.

[Laura w]

12:34 PM on 06/05/2011

Not a nurse, but I worked 9 years on a 12 hour graveyard shift. Working nights and raising kids at the same time means that something has to give, and usually that meant sleep took a back seat to everything else. When I finally managed to get to day shift, it took me about a year to get used to being fully functional during the day.
Graveyard shifts may be necessary, but are havoc on your health and well being.

[Fi]

10:23 AM on 06/05/2011

I'm one of those nurses too, the only bit of it that really frightens me, is the journey home from work, it takes me 40-45 mins on a good morning, and it is not the first time, I have stopped the car on my driveway, and thought, how the hell did I get here, I have no recollection of driving home at all, despite the window being open and the radio blaring.

[yatinjpatel]

08:37 PM on 06/06/2011

There was a study showing 84% interns had fallen asleep driving home after those 36 hours on-calls! And it kills. 4 people die every hour on US roads. Be careful please.

[Michele Paiva]

07:04 PM on 07/12/2011

That is absolutely scary.

[Velvet Raindrops]

06:48 AM on 06/05/2011

Another graveyarder here..sigh. At least I am part time but I do hate working all through the night! When I am super tired and have to force myself to stay awake through what I call "crunch-time," I literally, instantly become unwell. Some of the symptoms of staying awake when I feel like I can just fall over dead: acid reflux, stomach ache, nausea, shortness of breath, heaviness in my entire body....ahh I'm starting to feel tired just by describing the symptoms so I will stop! :-| There are other things like falling asleep with my eyes open and hearing echoes, not to mention seeing people that are not there.

[Ed Hooper]

09:22 AM on 06/01/2011

Yep....I am one of those nurses.....however, I am usually up for 36 hours at least one day a week....I have to 'flip' so that I can be functional for my children on my next 'night off'....
After doing this for nearly 20 years....God forbid you put me on day shift! It drives me nuts! I can't get anything accomplished on the home front and see my children far less than if I work night shift.
Not to mention, Day shift is approximately $500 month pay cut (depending on what area of the U.S. you live....
Yes, I do believe I am aging faster than some of my counterparts, but I love the night shift.....
Brenda J, RN
Ohio