Scientific production about night shift work in nursing: a review of literature

Objective: recognizing the scientific productions that approach night shift work carried out by the nursing staff in hospitals. Method: this is a bibliographic, narrative, exploratory and descriptive research. The search was developed in the Virtual Health Library, from July to August 2012. Results: studies point to the fact that most workers are married women with spouses and/or children, who have to do housework and deal with their profession, in one or two jobs. Despite of the negative repercussion of the night shift work upon the health of the workers, they often do this shift because of their choice/personal need or professional and not by imposition of the institution. Conclusion: there is a growing interest in this topic, mainly in terms of repercussions of this work shift for the health of nursing professionals. It should be highlighted that it is fundamental to reduce these repercussions, as well as to diminish the hospitalization rates in a way to contribute for the promotion of health and satisfaction at work