Lifestyle behaviors among Canadian nurses working night shifts in the COVID-19 era: a pilot study.

Abstract: Working night shifts has been associated with negative mental health consequences such as depression, anxiety, and sleep problems. The objectives of this study were to determine the lifestyle behaviors (prevalence of nicotine, caffeine, cannabis, sleep-promoting medication, and alcohol use) and the association between job stress, sleep quality, anxiety, and depression among registered nurses working night shifts in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan in the COVID-19 era. Twenty-two registered nurses ranging from ages 25-65 that work permanent or rotating night shifts participated in an online survey from April 11th to July 15th, 2022. The results showed a strong positive association between sleep disturbance, and depression r (19) = 0.50, [p = 0.029, 95% CI, 0.06, 0.78]. A positive correlation was found between higher levels of reported anxiety and sleep disturbance r (19) = 0.69, [p = 0.001, 95% CI, 0.34, 0.87]. There was a positive correlation between depression and occupational exhaustion r (17) = 0.56, [p = 0.021, 95% CI, 0.10, 0.82]. Anxiety was significantly related to occupational exhaustion r (17) = 0.65, [p = 0.005, 95% CI, 0.24, 0.86] and depersonalization r (17) = 0.52, [p = 0.005, 95% CI, 0.06, 0.80], but not significantly related to personal accomplishment r (17) = -0.34, [p = 0.185, 95% CI, -0.70, 0.17]. In conclusion, a sample of Canadian nurses working night shifts in the province of Saskatchewan during the COVID-19 pandemic showed a significant positive relationship among sleep disturbance, anxiety, and depression. Furthermore, most nurses reported using at least one or more of the following substances: sleep-promoting medication, nicotine, alcohol, and cannabis.

Lifestyle and Life Expectancy Questionnaire: validation and assessment in an Italian sample.

Background: The objective of this study was to evaluate the relia-bility and validity of the lifestyle (Miller-Smith) and life expectancy (Schneider) questionnaires in the Italian setting in order to make this instrument available for the determination of lifestyle and hope level in the different domains of everyday life. Method: Before testing their psychometric properties, the original versions of the two questionnaires, lifestyle (Miller-Smith) and life expectancy (Schneider), were translated into the Italian language. We tested the instrument's psychometric properties on a sample of 18 patients over 60 years old with Alzheimer's disease in the Sapienza University of Rome teaching hospital, policlinico Umberto 1. Internal consistency was considered to assess the reliability of the results across items within the adopted scale by using Cronbach's α coefficient. Using Kolmogorov-Smirnov's test, the normality distribution was evaluated to guarantee the applicability of a parametric or non-parametric test. The software used to analyze data was SPSS version 26 for Windows. Results: According to the outcome of our statistical analysis, the lifestyle scale showed high overall internal consistency, and the Cron-bach's α coefficient for the total 20-item scale was 0.80 in the Italian population. On the other hand, using the 12-item questionnaire about life expectancy resulted in a high overall internal consistency of 0.93, according to the Cronbach's alpha test. Conclusions: The outcome of our study shows that the Italian versions of the lifestyle (Miller-Smith) and life expectancy (Schneider) questionnaires demonstrated good psychometric properties and good characteristics of factorial validity for future epidemiological studies aimed at evaluating lifestyle and lifestyle expectancy in the Italian population and can as well be used in clinical practice and research.

Moderate-intensity aerobic exercise as an adjunct intervention to improve sleep quality among rotating shift nurses.

Abstract: Nurses working rotating shifts (RS) are at risk of circadian rhythm disruption, which can affect sleep quality and can lead to emotional stress, anxiety, and depression. Aerobic exercise is a type of repetitive and structured physical activity that involves the metabolic system, which utilizes oxygen to produce energy and has been demonstrated to improve shift-workers' health and well-being. The main purpose of engaging in regular moderate-intensity aerobic exercise is to improve cardiopulmonary fitness and functional capacity. When engaging in moderate-intensity aerobic exercise, the increase in arterial pressure is accompanied by a simultaneous increase in heart rate, which signifi-cantly contributes to the rise in blood pressure, which is reversed after exercise due to an increase in parasympathetic activity and a decrease in sympathetic activity. Moderate-intensity aerobic exercise includes walking at a moderate pace, water aerobics, dancing, recreational swimming, gardening, table tennis, and stair climbing at a moderate pace and represents a cost-effective health promotion strategy for im-proving sleep quality and duration. Adherence to a moderate-intensity aerobic exercise program may increase both sleep quality and duration by improving melatonin concentrations, endocrine activities, heart rate and slow wave sleep among nurses working RS. Occupational medicine practitioners should consider creating a workplace health promotion program that incorporates moderate-intensity aerobic exercise for RS-nurses to minimize the impact of shift work on their sleep quality.

I-PHAN Study - Use of E-learning modules to Promote Physical activity and wellness among Nurses in order to improve mental and physical health: A research protocol for a randomized controlled trial.

AIM: To develop and test the effectiveness of an E-learning program for promoting physical activity (PA) and wellness among nurses. BACKGROUND: Restrictions during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic drastically changed many people's lives. Maintaining a healthy lifestyle is an everyday challenge faced by the general popula-tion. Nurses are one of the health care professionals who are typically well-educated in taking care of patients. There are studies that show that night shifts, extended shifts, and obesity have a correlation with the prevalence of acute low back pain among female nurses. PA is the key factor in the prevention and treatment of many chronic diseases, resulting in an improvement in the quality of life. The impact of social media and technology on our lives is undeniable in the modern era. DESIGN: This study will be a single-centre, single-blind, randomi-zed controlled trial executed on an E-learning platform to provide the control and intervention groups with a distance learning program. Par-ticipants will be randomly assigned to either the control or intervention group. Participants in the control group will only sign up for module 1 of the PA modules, which only comprises information on PA and health promotion. On the other hand, the participants in the intervention group are expected to carry out 3 modules of exercises at home three days a week for a total duration of 8 weeks. The exercises will be performed at moderate intensity (5-6 on the Borg CR10 Scale). ETHICAL ISSUES: This trial will comply with the declaration of Helsinki 1975, as revised in 2000. Informed written consent will be obtained from the participants. The Sapienza University of Rome, institutional ethics committee and review board approval will be requested for this study. CONCLUSION: Establishing an online PA program with good quality, such as a high level of convenience in access and use, simplified, easy to practice, and made available on social media, can minimize the difficulties faced previously in the implementation of an online PA program for nurses, and may enhance the health and wellbeing of many nurses in healthcare institutions.