Location
Virtual Conference
Start Date
24-6-2022 12:20 PM
End Date
24-6-2022 1:30 PM
Keywords:
washington; spokane; covid-19
Description
Background: Registered nurses (RN) working in acute-care hospitals during the Covid-19 pandemic reported unprecedented stress. Walking between 7000-10,000 steps each day offers positive benefits such as improved mood, reduced stress, and reduction in overall mortality risk. Additionally, the American College of Sports Medicine’s (ACSM) Physical Activity Guidelines recommends adults should engage in 75 -150 minutes per week of moderate to intense activity for health benefits. Yet, some research suggests that number of steps taken per week decreased and time spent sedentary increased during the first year of the onset of COVID-19 compared to the year prior. Among nurses working full-time in the hospital setting during COVID-19-related surges, ability to meet national recommendations for activity was not known.
Purpose: To describe activity levels of acute-care RN’s and to determine differences between RN working day and night shifts during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Methods: A descriptive, observational study was conducted among hospital-based nurses across 3 states and 10 hospitals. 57 RNs participated, providing exercise data in REDCAP surveys over a 7-day period including 3, 12-hour shifts. Of the participants, 49/57 RNs wore pedometers of choice for 7 consecutive days (measuring weekly total step count) and recorded steps in a REDCAP survey. 53/57 participants completed the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) self-report instrument (reflecting overall physical activity for 7 days). Finally, 57/57 reported whether their exercise habits had worsened, stayed the same, or improved since the onset of COVID-19. Descriptive statistics, t-tests, and an ANOVA were conducted with SPSS v27.
Results: Of the 53 subjects who completed the IPAQ questionnaire, 60.4% of nurses met ACSM guidelines for moderate to intense activity. There were no significant differences in activity between day (n=34) and night shifts (n=23, p=0.97). Proportionally more NS nurses reported worse exercise habits since the pandemic (56.5%) compared to DS nurses (41.1%), although the difference was not significant (p=0.16). The average WTS taken by all subjects was 57,483.78 ± 2,3240.595. WTS taken by day shift (61,594.41 ± 4,519.47) versus night shift (49,746.12 ± 3,884.98; p=0.09). When on-shift, day shift nurses walked significantly more steps than night shift (p
Conclusions: In our sample of day and night shift nurses, 39.6% did not meet the ACSM guidelines for minutes spent in moderate to intense activity each week during COVID-19 surges. RNs on average met the minimum recommended 49,000 steps/week, but not the upper limit of 70,000 steps per week. More nurses working night shift reported worse exercise habits since the pandemic and walked less steps during a work shift compared to day shift nurses. Future work with larger sample sizes should characterize nursing activity levels longitudinally to examine the impact of hospital surges, 12-hour shifts, and night shift, on RN exercise habits.
Implications for Practice:
Nursing well-being is of paramount importance, especially during pandemic-related hospital surges, and meeting national recommendations for exercise provides many health benefits. Strategies to enable RNs to meet ACSM recommendations for activity are warranted and should consider occupational factors.
Recommended Citation
Sanoff, Randy; Bigand, Teresa; Crooks, Elena; Carroll, Katie; and Halabi, Mary, "Podium Presentation: Differences in Exercise Patterns among Day and Night Shift Nurses During COVID-19 Surges" (2022). 2022 Providence Nurse Research Conference. 13.
https://digitalcommons.providence.org/prov_rn_conf_22/2022/day1/13
Included in
Behavioral Medicine Commons, Critical Care Commons, Infectious Disease Commons, Nursing Commons
Podium Presentation: Differences in Exercise Patterns among Day and Night Shift Nurses During COVID-19 Surges
Virtual Conference
Background: Registered nurses (RN) working in acute-care hospitals during the Covid-19 pandemic reported unprecedented stress. Walking between 7000-10,000 steps each day offers positive benefits such as improved mood, reduced stress, and reduction in overall mortality risk. Additionally, the American College of Sports Medicine’s (ACSM) Physical Activity Guidelines recommends adults should engage in 75 -150 minutes per week of moderate to intense activity for health benefits. Yet, some research suggests that number of steps taken per week decreased and time spent sedentary increased during the first year of the onset of COVID-19 compared to the year prior. Among nurses working full-time in the hospital setting during COVID-19-related surges, ability to meet national recommendations for activity was not known.
Purpose: To describe activity levels of acute-care RN’s and to determine differences between RN working day and night shifts during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Methods: A descriptive, observational study was conducted among hospital-based nurses across 3 states and 10 hospitals. 57 RNs participated, providing exercise data in REDCAP surveys over a 7-day period including 3, 12-hour shifts. Of the participants, 49/57 RNs wore pedometers of choice for 7 consecutive days (measuring weekly total step count) and recorded steps in a REDCAP survey. 53/57 participants completed the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) self-report instrument (reflecting overall physical activity for 7 days). Finally, 57/57 reported whether their exercise habits had worsened, stayed the same, or improved since the onset of COVID-19. Descriptive statistics, t-tests, and an ANOVA were conducted with SPSS v27.
Results: Of the 53 subjects who completed the IPAQ questionnaire, 60.4% of nurses met ACSM guidelines for moderate to intense activity. There were no significant differences in activity between day (n=34) and night shifts (n=23, p=0.97). Proportionally more NS nurses reported worse exercise habits since the pandemic (56.5%) compared to DS nurses (41.1%), although the difference was not significant (p=0.16). The average WTS taken by all subjects was 57,483.78 ± 2,3240.595. WTS taken by day shift (61,594.41 ± 4,519.47) versus night shift (49,746.12 ± 3,884.98; p=0.09). When on-shift, day shift nurses walked significantly more steps than night shift (p
Conclusions: In our sample of day and night shift nurses, 39.6% did not meet the ACSM guidelines for minutes spent in moderate to intense activity each week during COVID-19 surges. RNs on average met the minimum recommended 49,000 steps/week, but not the upper limit of 70,000 steps per week. More nurses working night shift reported worse exercise habits since the pandemic and walked less steps during a work shift compared to day shift nurses. Future work with larger sample sizes should characterize nursing activity levels longitudinally to examine the impact of hospital surges, 12-hour shifts, and night shift, on RN exercise habits.
Implications for Practice:
Nursing well-being is of paramount importance, especially during pandemic-related hospital surges, and meeting national recommendations for exercise provides many health benefits. Strategies to enable RNs to meet ACSM recommendations for activity are warranted and should consider occupational factors.
Comments
Citations:
(Galanis,P et al. 2021) Galanis P, Vraka I, Fragkou D, Bilali A, Kaitelidou D. Nurses' burnout and associated risk factors during the COVID-19 pandemic: A systematic review and meta-analysis. J Adv Nurs. 2021 Aug;77(8):3286-3302. doi: 10.1111/jan.14839. Epub 2021 Mar 25. PMID: 33764561; PMCID: PMC8250618. Retrieved from pubmed.ncbi..nln.nih.gov/3376461/
(Health.gov.2021) Physical Activity Guidelines for American, 2nd edition. Retrieved from https://health.gov/sites/default/files/2019-09/Physical_Activity_Guidelines_2nd_edition.pdf.
(Lee, I, et.al 2019) Lee I, Shiroma EJ, Kamada M, Bassett DR, Matthews CE, Buring JE. Association of Step Volume and Intensity With All-Cause Mortality in Older Women. JAMA Intern Med. 2019;179(8):1105–1112. doi:10.1001/jamainternmed.2019.0899. Retrieved from jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/fullarticle/2734709
(Matzer,F et.al 2017) Matzer F, Nagele E, Lerch N, Vajda C, Fazekas C. Combining walking and relaxation for stress reduction-A randomized cross-over trial in healthy adults. Stress Health. 2018 Apr;34(2):266-277. doi: 10.1002/smi.2781. Epub 2017 Aug 25. PMID: 28840638.Retrieved from onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/smi.2781
(Researchgate.net., 2002) https://www.researchgate.net/figure/International-Physical-Activity-Questionnaire-short-form-IPAQ-SF_fig1_275642934
(Yuenyongchaiwat, K., 2016) Yuenyongchaiwat K. Effects of 10,000 steps a day on physical and mental health in overweight participants in a community setting: a preliminary study. Braz J Phys Ther. 2016;20(4):367-373. doi:10.1590/bjpt-rbf.2014.0160