Napping on night-shifts among nursing staff: A mixed-methods systematic review

Aims: To synthesize research on the influence of night-shift napping on nurses.

Background: Shift work is common for hospital nurses. Various studies corroborate that shift work causes adverse health consequences for nurses. Night-shift napping is a countermeasure to address the adverse outcomes of shift work.

Design: A mixed-methods systematic review.

Data sources: The literature search included the PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, PsycINFO and Cochrane Library electronic databases from inception to December 2017. Reference lists were hand searched. Only English articles were chosen.

Review methods: A sequential explanatory design and Cochrane's methods for integrating qualitative and implementation evidence in intervention effectiveness reviews. The Mixed Methods Assessment Tool and Cochrane Risk of Bias Tool were applied to assess the methodological quality of included studies.

Results: Twenty-two studies met our inclusion criteria. Many nurses experienced napping during their night-shift although no clear policy emerged. Napping is beneficial to the well-being of nurses and could improve their psychomotor vigilance and performance. However, the related studies are limited. The evidence on reducing sleepiness and fatigue was also insufficient and napping in nursing still faces challenges.

Conclusion: Although research on this topic has just started, napping during night-shift is beneficial to nurses' health and performance. Research should further explore the long-term impact on of night-shift napping on nurses, people and organization using sound methodological designs. Managers should actively develop strategies to address night-shift napping barriers.