Association between early career nurses’ social jetlag, affect, depression, and quality of life

Abstract

Background: Social jetlag in nurses is a long-standing challenge for nursing management. It has been attributed to the effects of shift work that disrupts nurses’ circadian rhythms, may be detrimental to their health, and can lead to rapid turnover. Aim: We aimed to identify the association between social jetlag, affect, depression, and quality of life of early career nurses. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 201 early career nurses at three tertiary hospitals in South Korea were included. Data were collected from May to July 2018. Social jetlag, affect, depression, and quality of life were measured using the Munich Chronotype Questionnaire (shift version), the Positive and Negative Affect Scale, the Centre for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (Korean version), and the Korean World Health Organization Quality of Life Scale (abbreviated version), respectively. Findings: Participants’ mean overall social jetlag and quality of life scores were 4 hours 28 minutes and 80.21, respectively. Multiple regression analyses identified overall social jetlag, positive and negative affect, and depression as factors influencing the nurses’ quality of life. Discussion: Understanding the implications of factors affecting early career nurses’ quality of life, including social jetlag, is vital to ensure staff retention. Nursing management should consider the individual social jetlag of nurses when scheduling shifts and accordingly create institutional human resources management strategies to reduce negative affect and depression while promoting positive affect in early career nurses. Conclusion: Social jetlag, negative affect, and depression negatively impact early career nurses’ quality of life, whereas positive affect positively impacts their quality of life. © 2022 Australian College of Nursing Ltd