By Chelangat Caren,
Working the night shift has a myriad health hazards. Besides dark mood swings and severed
social and family life, there is also unpredictable work-life balance and burn-out.
Done with heart rhythms, leading to heart problems, the most common being the Ischemic
heart disease that is caused by inadequate supply of oxygen and blood.
People likely to work the night shift include security guards, cops, soldiers, long-
distance transporters, late night radio presenters, customer service operators, airline crew,
doctors and nurses.
The Covid-19 pandemic, which made many people to work from home, also had others working
longer into the wee hours. The most affected are those in essential services, including
journalists, who have ‘the graveyard shift’. But majority of those working remotely fail to
manage working hours, an issue that increases working hours.
Take Collins Ajwang’, a nurse at Jaramogi Oginga Teaching and Referal Hospital, in Kisumu, for
instance.
Ajwang’ works for six nights in a month, hours that also have high work volume. During night
shifts, he reports to work at around 6pm, and leaves at 10am the next day.
Ajwang’ manages a ward with 50 patients, together with his colleague, and roles entail
receiving admissions, handling emergencies, besides feeding, stabilising, and giving medication
to patients.
This can lead to burn-out, considering “volume of work at night is heavy, as compared to during
the day, when patients can be cared for by their relatives,” says Ajwang’, who adds that though
he sleeps during the day, he is often interrupted as “noise from neighborhood and family
demands cannot allow me to relax enough.” With a lot of work and associated risks during night
shifts, Ajwang’, also the Nurses Association of Kenya, Kisumu branch chairperson, says the
government should increase risk and extraneous allowances for nurses.
Not only is the nurse predisposed to fatigue, but recent research reveals working the night shift
deprives employees of sleep and most also risk contracting heart related diseases. This can be
fatal.