The relationships among sleep quality and chronotype, emotional disturbance, and insomnia vulnerability in shift nurses

Background: Shift work is a prominent feature of most nursing jobs. Although chronotype, emotional disturbance, and insomnia vulnerability are important factors for patients with insomnia in general, their effects on shift nurses are unknown. Purpose: This study explores the relationships between the sleep quality of shift nurses and the variables of chronotype, emotional disturbance, and insomnia vulnerability. Methods: A survey was conducted with 398 shift nurses in a medical center. Chronotype, emotional disturbance, insomnia vulnerability, and sleep quality were evaluated using the Smith Morningness-Eveningness Questionnaire, the Brief Symptom Rating Scale, the Ford Insomnia Response to Stress Test, and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, respectively. Results: On the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, 70.1% of the participants scored higher than 5. Multiple regression analysis revealed that, together with night shift work (b [SE] = 1.05 [0.35], p =.003), higher levels of emotional disturbance (b [SE] = 0.30 [0.05], p