SLEEPINESS AND DRIVING INCIDENTS IN NURSES COMMUTING TO AND FROM WORK SHIFTS

Abstract

Shift workers are at increased risk of sleepiness and motor vehicle accidents. This study aimed to assess sleepiness and adverse driving events during commutes to and from work shifts in intensive care unit (ICU) nurses. 35 ICU nurses (age 33.2 ± 10.6 years, 28 Female) completed driving diaries for commutes to and from day (07:00-15:30 h), evening (13:00-21:00 h), and night shifts (21:00-07:00 h), consisting of a Karolinska Sleepiness Scale (KSS) pre- and post-drive and driving incidents. OptalertTM was used to monitor drowsiness during all drives. Linear mixed model analyses were conducted to investigate differences in pre-drive and post-drive KSS and driving incidents between shift types, ..