Well-rested nurses are safe and efficient nurses. Many nurses find napping on night duty as an effective mechanism to decrease drowsiness or fatigue Staff were aware that fatigue is a particular issue but staff tend not to take all of their scheduled breaks on night duty The staff instigated a night duty nap planner and scheduled times for taking breaks and/or naps. This involved a ‘1 am huddle’ following a midnight ward round overview. Staff took allocated 30-minute breaks and those who chose to nap used an old mattress in an effective sleeping space. Barriers to nurses taking naps on night shift included: perpetuating a stigma of ‘laziness’ that accompanies the night shift; the feeling that patient acuity and workload can make it difficult to take breaks; and patient load where colleagues were on break. Nurses need to prioritize their breaks. Some nurses could not delegate tasks. The staff identified six studies of napping on night shift; and found napping improved levels of fatigue in five of the six studies. The definition of what constituted a nap varied in the studies – from 15 minutes to two hours. From the findings, we found it was feasible that napping can reduce sleepiness and drowsiness driving
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Sunday, March 23, 2025