Erzurum, Turkey — Health care employees who work double shifts may have elevated levels of the stress hormone cortisol, results of a recent study suggest.
Led by Fadime Ulupınar of Erzurum Technical University, researchers analyzed saliva cortisol samples of 52 female nurses who worked rotating shifts. They collected samples before and after shifts and at midnight from those working single and double shifts.
Findings show that cortisol levels among double-shift workers “were nearly twofold higher at midnight” than those of the nurses working a single shift. The researchers note that cortisol levels commonly peak in the early morning as the body prepares for the day and “gradually decline” before “reaching their lowest point around midnight.”
Health system Kaiser Permanente says that “when people experience chronic stress, their cortisol levels may remain persistently high, leading to a host of medical problems that could affect the heart, digestive system and muscles.”
In the new study, the researchers assert that the “strain of prolonged work durations is not merely a professional challenge but resonates with broader health equity concerns.”
They suggest that these effects “warrant urgent consideration by health care policymakers and administrators, balancing operational efficiency with nurses’ well-being and patient safety.”
The study was published in the journal Nursing Open.
