THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ACTIVITY WHEN IN BED AND OUT OF BED .3. NURSESON NIGHT WORK

Eight nurses have been studied during rest days and three successive n ight shifts. Measurements of wrist activity have been made and used to assess the extent to which the pattern of daily activity changes betw een control (rest) days and days involving night work. One analysis co nsidered wrist activity during time spent in bed; this appears to decr ease in parallel with the amount of time in bed that is lost during ni ght work but, when this effect is corrected for, there is greater acti vity during time spent in bed in the daytime compared with control day s (when time in bed is during the night). The dichotomy of activity (b etween lower values during time spent in bed and higher values when ou t of bed) also decreases if time in bed is during the daytime while on night shifts. These changes in the amount of wrist activity and the d ichotomy between activity in and out of bed are related to the changed quality and quantity of sleep that has been measured by self-report q uestionnaires and the sleep EEG. It is concluded that results from wri st actimetry can provide valuable information regarding the process of adjustment to night work, and that its convenience (to subject and ex perimenter), coupled with the new analytical approaches described here , make it a viable method for field studies.