Work schedules in the Hungarian health care system and the sleep quality of nurses

Introduction: One way of ensuring the continuity of health care is the shift work, which is burdensome and it can lead to sleep disturbances. Aim: The aim of the study was to measure the typical Hungarian nursing shift systems in hospitals, to analyse the causes of irregular work schedules, and to compare the sleep quality of nurses in different work schedules. Method: 236 head nurses filled out the national online survey, and 217 nurses in clinics of the University of Pecs filled the Hungarian version of Bergen Shift Work Sleep Questionnaire. Results: The head nurses provided data of 8697 nurses's schedules. 51.89% of nurses work in flexible shift system. 1944 employees work in regular shift system, most of them in the following order: 12-hour day shift and 12-hour night shift, followed by a one- or two-day rest. Where there is no system of shifts, the most frequent causes are the needs of nurses and the nurse shortage. Nurses who are working in irregular shift system had worse sleep quality than nurses who are working in flexible and regular shift system (p = 0.044). Conclusions: It would be helpful if the least burdensome shift system could be established.