Sleep deprivation and error in nurses who work the night shift (2014)

Summary

This study in The Journal of Nursing Administration aimed to investigate the relationship between sleep deprivation and occupational and patient care errors among staff nurses who work the night shift. A cross-sectional correlational design was used to evaluate relationships between sleep deprivation and occupational and patient care errors in 289 hospital night shift nurses.

The study found that more than half (56%) of the sample reported being sleep deprived. Sleep-deprived nurses made more patient care errors. Testing for associations with occupational errors was not feasible because of the low number of occupational errors reported.