Assessment of night-shift effects on nurses’ health and work performance at South Gondar zone public hospitals, 2022

Introduction: Nurses in hospitals across the world work shift to provide patient care 24 h a day. Shift work, which for nurses often includes working overnight, disrupts natural processes. The night shift work can have serious negative physical and psychological effects on nurses’ health and work performance. It has been shown that night shift work has been associated with sleep disturbances, altered physical and mental health, complicated interpersonal relationships, and a decrease in the quality of nursing care. Aim: This study aims to assess night-shift effects on nurses' health and work performance at South Gondar Zone Public Hospitals, in 2022. Method: A cross-sectional study design was conducted at four hospitals, which are Debre Tabor Comprehensive Specialized Hospital, Addis Zemen Primary Hospital, Mekane Eyesus Primary Hospital, and Nifas Meucha Primary Hospital. A structured self-administered questionnaire was used to collect the data from 1st December 2021 to 1st February 2022. Data were entered into Epi data version 4.2 and then exported to SPSS version 24 for analysis. Data were summarized by using percentages and frequencies and the association between demographic factors and feelings of nurses about night shift work was assessed by using a bivariate and multivariable logistic regression model. Result: The findings of the study revealed the majority of nurses (68 %) disliked night shift work. Night shift exposed nurses to different health problems such as loss of sleep (27.9 %), muscular strain (24.6 %), persistent tiredness (16.4 %), and backache (12.3 %,). Night shift work also affects the work performance of nurses by increasing workload 96(39.3 %), tiredness 74 (30.3 %), and by lowering concentration 38(15.6 %). Gender (AOR = 1.94; 95 % CI: 1.06–3.57), educational status (AOR = 2.36; 95 % CI: 1.21–4.60), and marital status (AOR = 2.08; 95 % CI: 1.09–3.98) were significantly associated with the feeling of nurses about night shift work. Conclusion: In this study the majority of nurses disliked night shift work. Nurses suffered from different health problems including physical and psychological problems. Night shift work also affects the work performance of nurses by increasing workload and tiredness as well as by lowering the concentration of nurses.