Adherence
Night-shift nurses who use voluntary sleep deprivation (staying awake >24 hours) to switch between day and night schedules exhibit significantly poorer adaptation to their work schedule compared to those using other sleep strategies.
If you work night shifts, avoid staying awake for more than 24 hours to force a switch to day schedules on your days off. This 'No Sleep' strategy is linked to the poorest adaptation, higher fatigue, and increased reliance on caffeine. Instead, consider strategies that involve napping or gradual shifting, as these are associated with better adaptation scores.
Night-shift nurses who used sleep deprivation as a means to switch to and from diurnal sleep on work days (<25%) were the most poorly adapted to their work schedule.
Why this rating
Observational study with a large sample size (n=388) and statistically significant results (p<0.05), but lacks experimental control over the sleep strategy assignment.
Source
Shift Work in Nurses: Contribution of Phenotypes and Genotypes to Adaptation
Karen L. Gamble et al. · PLoS ONE · 2011
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