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Abstract Background Blue-depleted light environments (BDLEs) may result in beneficial health outcomes for hospital inpatients in some cases. However, less is known about the effects on hospital staff working shifts. This study aimed to explore the effects of a BDLE compared with a standard hospital light environment (STLE) in a naturalistic setting on nurses’ functioning during shifts and sleep patterns between shifts. Methods Twenty-five nurses recruited from St. Olavs Hospital in Trondheim, Norway, completed 14 days of actigraphy recordings and self-reported assessments of sleep (e.g., total sleep time/sleep efficiency) and functioning while working shifts (e.g., mood, stress levels/caffeine use) in two different light environments. Additionally, participants were asked to complete several scales and questionnaires to assess the symptoms of medical conditions and mental health conditions and the side effects associated with each light environment. Results A multilevel fixed-effects regression model showed a within-subject increase in subjective sleepiness (by 17%) during evening shifts in the BDLE compared with the STLE (p = .034; Cohen’s d = 0.49) and an 0.2 increase in number of caffeinated beverages during nightshifts in the STLE compared with the BDLE (p = .027; Cohen’s d = 0.37). There were no significant differences on any sleep measures (either based on sleep diary data or actigraphy recordings) nor on self-reported levels of stress or mood across the two conditions. Exploratory between-group analyses of questionnaire data showed that there were no significant differences except that nurses working in the BDLE reported perceiving the lighting as warmer (p = .009) and more relaxing (p = .023) than nurses working in the STLE. Conclusions Overall, there was little evidence that the change in the light environment had any negative impact on nurses’ sleep and function, despite some indication of increased evening sleepiness in the BDLE. We recommend further investigations on this topic before BDLEs are implemented as standard solutions in healthcare institutions and propose specific suggestions for designing future large-scale trials and cohort studies. Trial registration The study was registered before data collection was completed on the ISRCTN website ( ISRCTN21603406 ).

Abstract Background Nurses are in the frontline and play an important role in the battle against the COrona VIrus Disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Sleep problems among health care workers are likely to increase due to the pandemic. However, it is conceivable that negative health outcomes related to the pandemic fluctuate with the infection rate waves of the pandemic. The present study aimed to investigate sleep patterns among Norwegian nurses, after the first wave, during a period with very low rates of COVID-19. Methods Data stemmed from the cohort study “SUrvey of Shift work, Sleep and Health (SUSSH)” among Norwegian nurses. A total of 1532 nurses responded one time to a questionnaire between June and September in 2020 including items about demographics and work, information about COVID-19 and quarantine, sleep patterns and changes in sleep patterns due to the pandemic. Descriptive statistics for all relevant variables were calculated and McNemar tests were used to compare categorical variables. Results The majority of nurses (84.2%) reported no change in sleep duration after the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic compared to before, 11.9% reported less sleep, and 3.9% reported more sleep. Similarly, 82.4% of the nurses reported no change in their sleep quality, whereas 16.2% of the nurses reported poorer sleep quality after the first wave of the pandemic compared to before. The majority of nurses reported no change in their sleep schedule due to the pandemic, although 9.6% of the nurses reported to go to bed later and 9.0% woke up earlier than before the pandemic. Conclusions Most existing literature exploring sleep among health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic has been carried out during periods with high infection rates. In this study we aimed to investigate sleep patterns among Norwegian nurses following the first wave, during a period of low COVID-19 rates in Norway. Most of the nurses reported no change in neither sleep duration, sleep quality, bedtime, nor wake-up times compared to before the pandemic. Still, nearly 12% reported shorter sleep duration, and about 16% reported poorer sleep quality indicating that some nurses experienced worsening of their sleep following the pandemic.

Abstract Background Organisation of working hour schedules in the Northern European countries are rather similar. EU countries are obliged to adopt national legislation regarding duration of weekly working hours and rest periods. Yet, working hour characteristics and schedules are likely to differ with respect to starting times and duration depending e.g. on culture and tradition. Yet, very little is known about potential differences between shifts and schedules across countries among nursing personel. This knowledge is relevant, since the potential differences in working hour characteristics may influence and possibly explain some of the differences observed in studies of health and safety. The aim of the study was to compare characteristics of working hours and work schedules among nursing personel in three Nordic countries: Denmark, Finland and Norway. Methods The study populations included nursing personnel holding a ≥ 50% position at public hospitals in Denmark (n = 63,678), Finland (n = 18,257) or Norway (n = 1538) in 2013. Objective payroll based registry data with information on daily starting and ending times were used to compare working hour characteristics e.g. starting time, duration of shift, and quick returns ( 13/year) quick returns in Norway (64%) and Finland (47%) compared to Denmark (16%). The frequency of 3-shift rotation workers was highest in Norway (41%) and lower in Denmark (22%) and Finland (22%). There were few differences across the countries in terms of early morning shifts and (very) long weekly working hours. Conclusion Despite similar distribution of operational hours among nurses in the three countries, there were differences in working hour characteristics and the use of different types of work schedules. The observed differences may affect health and safety.