REVIEW OF MENTAL HEALTH AND PHYSICAL HEALTH IN NIGHT WORKING NURSES IN GOLESTAN UNIVERSITY OF MEDICAL SCIENCES IN 2008-2009

Night shift schedules may have negative physical, mental, and social effects on
nurses and their personal life and reduces the quality of the work. This study was conducted to assess
the physical and mental health of night shift nurses in hospitals of Golestan University of Medical
Sciences.
Materials & Methods: In this descriptive study, 152 night shift nurses were involved through easy
sampling method. The data were collected using questionnaires and were analyzed by descriptive
statistics, (mean and standard deviation) and inferential statistic (ANOVA test, Pearson and Scheffe
post hoc test).
Results: Fifty two percent of the study samples had better mental health; 48 % were fairly good; 69 %
had fairly good physical health; and 2% had good physical health. There was a significant relationship
between mental health associated with physical health (p<0.001). There also was a significant
correlation between mental health with age (p<0/001) and job experience (P=0.002).
Conclusion: In order to reduce the complications of nightshifts, it is suggested to plan fixed shift
schedules. Proper management and programming appropriate shift schedule for nursing staff will be
very helpful