---
title: "Sleep Debt on 12-Hour Shifts: The Nurse Data"
url: https://stacklist.com/card/bff99a4c-c6d3-4fb8-be24-3891fb4fdf90
source_url: "https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/193597"
stack: https://stacklist.com/c/wellness/stack/f2eedf5e-26d1-4fb4-9246-f3b127aed0e5
summary: "Sleep, sleepiness, fatigue, and performance of 12-hour-shift nurses examines objectively measured sleep patterns and neurobehavioral performance in 80 registered nurses working consecutive 12-hour shifts. The study found that nurses accrue significant sleep debt (mean 5.5 hours between shifts) with accompanying fatigue and sleepiness, with certain nurses showing greater vulnerability to sleep loss as measured by attention lapses."
tags: "sleep-deprivation, shift-work, nurse-fatigue, occupational-health, neurocognitive-performance, 12-hour-shifts, sleep-debt"
key_entities: "Bausell RB (person), Geiger-Brown J (person), Kane RL (person), Rogers VE (person), Scharf SM (person), Trinkoff AM (person), Karolinska Sleepiness Scale (KSS) (technology), Performance Vigilance Task (PVT) (technology), Occupational Fatigue Exhaustion Recovery Scale (OFER) (technology), actigraphy (technology), sleep-debt (concept), shift-work (concept), occupational-fatigue (concept), NIOSH (organization)"
classification: "reference"
content_hash: "sha256:52e6f8b15164f724cbe934b52a5fa9caf34ae065b74fa257ee4ed3f52fdbdd83"
acp_version: "0.2"
token_counts_approximate: 3318
visibility: public
agent_accessible: true
status: "final"
---

# Sleep Debt on 12-Hour Shifts: The Nurse Data

i Sleep, sleepiness, fatigue, and performance of 12-hour-shift nurses Peer Reviewed 2012/03/01 By Bausell RB ; Geiger-Brown J ; Kane RL Download Citation Generic APA MLA Chicago RIS Title : Sleep, sleepiness, fatigue, and performance of 12-hour-shift nurses Personal Author(s) : Bausell RB;Geiger-Brown J;Kane RL;Rogers VE;Scharf SM;Trinkoff AM; Published Date : 2012/03/01 Pages in Document : 211-219 URL : https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/193597 RB, B., J, G. B., RL, K., VE, R., SM, S., & AM, T. (2012). Sleep, sleepiness, fatigue, and performance of 12-hour-shift nurses . https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/193597 RB, Bausell, Geiger-Brown J, Kane RL, Rogers VE, Scharf SM, and Trinkoff AM. Sleep, sleepiness, fatigue, and performance of 12-hour-shift nurses . 2012. https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/193597 . RB, Bausell, et al. Sleep, sleepiness, fatigue, and performance of 12-hour-shift nurses . 2012, Stacks. https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/193597 . Export RIS Citation Information. TY - Journal Article AU - Bausell RB AU - Geiger-Brown J AU - Kane RL AU - Rogers VE AU - Scharf SM AU - Trinkoff AM AB - Nurses working 12-h shifts complain of fatigue and insufficient/poor-quality sleep. Objectively measured sleep times have not been often reported. This study describes sleep, sleepiness, fatigue, and neurobehavioral performance over three consecutive 12-h (day and night) shifts for hospital registered nurses. Sleep (actigraphy), sleepiness (Karolinska Sleepiness Scale [KSS]), and vigilance (Performance Vigilance Task [PVT]), were measured serially in 80 registered nurses (RNs). Occupational fatigue (Occupational Fatigue Exhaustion Recovery Scale [OFER]) was assessed at baseline. Sleep was short (mean 5.5 h) between shifts, with little difference between day shift (5.7 h) and night shift (5.4 h). Sleepiness scores were low overall (3 on a 1-9 scale, with higher score indicating greater sleepiness), with 45% of nurses having high level of sleepiness (score > / = 7) on at least one shift. Nurses were progressively sleepier each shift, and night nurses were sleepier toward the end of the shift compared to the beginning. There was extensive caffeine use, presumably to preserve or improve alertness. Fatigue was high in one-third of nurses, with intershift fatigue (not feeling recovered from previous shift at the start of the next shift) being most prominent. There were no statistically significant differences in mean reaction time between day/night shift, consecutive work shift, and time into shift. Lapsing was traitlike, with rare (39% of sample), moderate (53%), and frequent (8%) lapsers. Nurses accrue a considerable sleep debt while working successive 12-h shifts with accompanying fatigue and sleepiness. Certain nurses appear more vulnerable to sleep loss than others, as measured by attention lapses. [Description provided by NIOSH] AN - cdc:193597 IS - 2 KW - Nervous System KW - Behavior KW - Fatigue KW - Safety KW - Health Personnel KW - Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders KW - Occupational Health KW - Sleep KW - Age Factors KW - Women KW - Men KW - Circadian Rhythm KW - Shift Work Schedule KW - Shift-work KW - Shift-workers KW - Health-care KW - Health-care-personnel KW - Nurses KW - Nursing KW - Work-intervals KW - Work-performance KW - Worker-health KW - Sleep-deprivation KW - Sleep-disorders KW - Fatigue KW - Fatigue-properties KW - Circadian-rhythms KW - Task-performance KW - Neurological-reactions KW - Behavior KW - Physiological-fatigue KW - Physiopathology KW - Physiological-effects KW - Physiology KW - Physiological-measurements KW - Humans KW - Women KW - Men KW - Age-factors KW - Author Keywords: Attention KW - Extended work hours KW - Neurocognition KW - Sleep deprivation KW - Sleepiness KW - Vigilance KW - Work schedule tolerance KW - Age Factors KW - Behavior KW - Circadian Rhythm KW - Fatigue KW - Health Personnel KW - Men KW - Nervous System KW - Occupational Health KW - Safety KW - Shift Work Schedule KW - Sleep KW - Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders KW - Women PY - 2012 TI - Sleep, sleepiness, fatigue, and performance of 12-hour-shift nurses VL - 29 UR - https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/193597 ER - Copy Copied Save Details Personal Author: Bausell RB ; Geiger-Brown J ; Kane RL ; Rogers VE ; Scharf SM ; Trinkoff AM Description: Nurses working 12-h shifts complain of fatigue and insufficient/poor-quality sleep. Objectively measured sleep times have not been often reported. This study describes sleep, sleepiness, fatigue, and neurobehavioral performance over three consecutive 12-h (day and night) shifts for hospital registered nurses. Sleep (actigraphy), sleepiness (Karolinska Sleepiness Scale KSS), and vigilance (Performance Vigilance Task PVT), were measured serially in 80 registered nurses (RNs). Occupational fatigue (Occupational Fatigue Exhaustion Recovery Scale OFER) was assessed at baseline. Sleep was short (mean 5.5 h) between shifts, with little difference between day shift (5.7 h) and night shift (5.4 h). Sleepiness scores were low overall (3 on a 1-9 scale, with higher score indicating greater sleepiness), with 45% of nurses having high level of sleepiness (score > / = 7) on at least one shift. Nurses were progressively sleepier each shift, and night nurses were sleepier toward the end of the shift compared to the beginning. There was extensive caffeine use, presumably to preserve or improve alertness. Fatigue was high in one-third of nurses, with intershift fatigue (not feeling recovered from previous shift at the start of the next shift) being most prominent. There were no statistically significant differences in mean reaction time between day/night shift, consecutive work shift, and time into shift. Lapsing was traitlike, with rare (39% of sample), moderate (53%), and frequent (8%) lapsers. Nurses accrue a considerable sleep debt while working successive 12-h shifts with accompanying fatigue and sleepiness. Certain nurses appear more vulnerable to sleep loss than others, as measured by attention lapses. Description provided by NIOSH Subjects: Age Factors Behavior Circadian Rhythm Fatigue Health Personnel Men Nervous System Occupational Health Safety Shift Work Schedule Sleep Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders Women More + Keywords: Shift-work Shift-workers Health-care Health-care-personnel Nurses Nursing Work-intervals Work-performance Worker-health Sleep-deprivation Sleep-disorders Fatigue Fatigue-properties Circadian-rhythms Task-performance Neurological-reactions Behavior Physiological-fatigue Physiopathology Physiological-effects Physiology Physiological-measurements Humans Women Men Age-factors Author Keywords: Attention Extended work hours Neurocognition Sleep deprivation Sleepiness Vigilance Work schedule tolerance More + ISSN: 0742-0528 Document Type: Text Funding: Grant Genre: Journal Article Place as Subject: Maryland ; OSHA Region 3 ; Pennsylvania CIO: National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) Topic: Workplace Safety & Health Location: North America Pages in Document: 211-219 Volume: 29 Issue: 2 NIOSHTIC Number: nn:20040896 Citation: Chronobiol Int 2012 Mar; 29(2):211-219 Email: jgeiger@son.umaryland.edu Federal Fiscal Year: 2012 Performing Organization: University of Maryland - Baltimore Peer Reviewed: True Start Date: 20070901 End Date: 20100831 Download URL: https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/193597/cdc_193597_DS1.pdf File Type: [PDF - 284.54 KB] Collection(s): National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health Main Document Checksum: urn:sha-512:678cc27b4ead7fdc2345b9f8fab7994817764c036f9ffc61499988edd7b886e9245ce3fca9eedab7f8bf2c1c2f8a74191518fcbe6d1e904c1766acdbdb9da40d PREVIOUS Download Full Screen Citation Generic APA MLA Chicago RIS Title : Sleep, sleepiness, fatigue, and performance of 12-hour-shift nurses Personal Author(s) : Bausell RB;Geiger-Brown J;Kane RL;Rogers VE;Scharf SM;Trinkoff AM; Published Date : 2012/03/01 Pages in Document : 211-219 URL : https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/193597 RB, B., J, G. B., RL, K., VE, R., SM, S., & AM, T. (2012). Sleep, sleepiness, fatigue, and performance of 12-hour-shift nurses . https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/193597 RB, Bausell, Geiger-Brown J, Kane RL, Rogers VE, Scharf SM, and Trinkoff AM. Sleep, sleepiness, fatigue, and performance of 12-hour-shift nurses . 2012. https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/193597 . RB, Bausell, et al. Sleep, sleepiness, fatigue, and performance of 12-hour-shift nurses . 2012, Stacks. https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/193597 . Export RIS Citation Information. TY - Journal Article AU - Bausell RB AU - Geiger-Brown J AU - Kane RL AU - Rogers VE AU - Scharf SM AU - Trinkoff AM AB - Nurses working 12-h shifts complain of fatigue and insufficient/poor-quality sleep. Objectively measured sleep times have not been often reported. This study describes sleep, sleepiness, fatigue, and neurobehavioral performance over three consecutive 12-h (day and night) shifts for hospital registered nurses. Sleep (actigraphy), sleepiness (Karolinska Sleepiness Scale [KSS]), and vigilance (Performance Vigilance Task [PVT]), were measured serially in 80 registered nurses (RNs). Occupational fatigue (Occupational Fatigue Exhaustion Recovery Scale [OFER]) was assessed at baseline. Sleep was short (mean 5.5 h) between shifts, with little difference between day shift (5.7 h) and night shift (5.4 h). Sleepiness scores were low overall (3 on a 1-9 scale, with higher score indicating greater sleepiness), with 45% of nurses having high level of sleepiness (score > / = 7) on at least one shift. Nurses were progressively sleepier each shift, and night nurses were sleepier toward the end of the shift compared to the beginning. There was extensive caffeine use, presumably to preserve or improve alertness. Fatigue was high in one-third of nurses, with intershift fatigue (not feeling recovered from previous shift at the start of the next shift) being most prominent. There were no statistically significant differences in mean reaction time between day/night shift, consecutive work shift, and time into shift. Lapsing was traitlike, with rare (39% of sample), moderate (53%), and frequent (8%) lapsers. Nurses accrue a considerable sleep debt while working successive 12-h shifts with accompanying fatigue and sleepiness. Certain nurses appear more vulnerable to sleep loss than others, as measured by attention lapses. [Description provided by NIOSH] AN - cdc:193597 IS - 2 KW - Nervous System KW - Behavior KW - Fatigue KW - Safety KW - Health Personnel KW - Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders KW - Occupational Health KW - Sleep KW - Age Factors KW - Women KW - Men KW - Circadian Rhythm KW - Shift Work Schedule KW - Shift-work KW - Shift-workers KW - Health-care KW - Health-care-personnel KW - Nurses KW - Nursing KW - Work-intervals KW - Work-performance KW - Worker-health KW - Sleep-deprivation KW - Sleep-disorders KW - Fatigue KW - Fatigue-properties KW - Circadian-rhythms KW - Task-performance KW - Neurological-reactions KW - Behavior KW - Physiological-fatigue KW - Physiopathology KW - Physiological-effects KW - Physiology KW - Physiological-measurements KW - Humans KW - Women KW - Men KW - Age-factors KW - Author Keywords: Attention KW - Extended work hours KW - Neurocognition KW - Sleep deprivation KW - Sleepiness KW - Vigilance KW - Work schedule tolerance KW - Age Factors KW - Behavior KW - Circadian Rhythm KW - Fatigue KW - Health Personnel KW - Men KW - Nervous System KW - Occupational Health KW - Safety KW - Shift Work Schedule KW - Sleep KW - Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders KW - Women PY - 2012 TI - Sleep, sleepiness, fatigue, and performance of 12-hour-shift nurses VL - 29 UR - https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/193597 ER - Copy Copied Save ON THIS PAGE Details  Was this page helpful? 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