The Future of Education

Nighttime work has been connected to a variety of psychological problems. This study looked at whether Saudi nurses' exposure to night shifts was connected with anxiety, depression, sleeplessness, sleepiness, and fatigue. A cross-sectional design was employed, with validated self-report instruments. Only 120 of 300 nurses who were invited returned completed questionnaires (response rate 40%). The survey gathered demographic information (gender, age, years of nursing experience, marital status, and childbearing status), as well as anxiety and depression measures (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale), insomnia (Bergen Insomnia Scale), sleepiness (Epworth Sleepiness Scale), and fatigue (Fatigue Questionnaire). Participants also estimated the amount of night work done in the previous year. Nurses were initially classified as having only worked nights, working rotating shifts, or only working nights. Binary logistic regression was used to examine the differences between groups. A cumulative exposure analysis was then performed using multiple regression to investigate associations between reported estimates of how much night work had occurred in the previous year and continuous outcome scores. Nurses who work only night shifts had a higher risk of depression (OR = 2.98, 95% CI = 1.18-7.54) than those who work only day shifts. Male nurses with more night shifts had higher levels of anxiety (β = 0.496), sleepiness (β = 0.316), and fatigue (β = 0.570), indicating a dose-response relationship. Saudi nurses who worked night shifts experienced higher levels of depression, anxiety, sleepiness, and fatigue. Greater exposure to night shifts was associated with these outcomes, highlighting the critical importance of strategies to mitigate the negative impact of night work on nurses' well-being.