Study on on-call work of visiting nurses, sleep quality and autonomic nervous activity

2017 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 15K11546
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Fundamental nursing
• Research Institution: Akita University
• Principal Investigator: Kikuchi Yukiko 秋田大学, 医学(系)研究科(研究院), 助教 (40331285)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 石井 範子 北海道科学大学, 保健医療学部, 教授 (10222944)
• Project Period (FY): 2015-04-01 – 2018-03-31
• Keywords: 訪問看護師 / オンコール勤務 / 心拍変動 / 睡眠時脳波 / 睡眠主観

Outline of Final Research Achievements

In Japan, many visiting nurses work carrying cell phones to respond to calls from users even at night (on-call work). The purpose of this study was to investigate whether on-call work affected heart rate variability (HRV) before bed and decreased sleep quality in visiting nurses even if their sleep was not interrupted due to actual calls. Thirty-one visiting nurses (mean age, 49.8 years) were asked to record their HRV before bed, and to undergo sleep electroencephalography (EEG) and subjective sleep evaluations, on on-call and non-on-call days. Including HRV parameters, sleep macrostructure variables, and subjective sleep quality scores between on-call and non-on-call days were compared. As a results, there were no differences in HRV measures and objective sleep EEG variables. Adverse effects of on-call work on sleep quality in most visiting nurses are thought to be subjective, and relatively younger nurses tend to notice a decrease in sleep quality.

Free Research Field

基礎看護学