Night Work and Chronic Sleep Deprivation: Their Impact on Mental Health and Job Performance among Hospital Healthcare Workers

Abstract

Night work is indispensable for hospital continuity, yet it exposes healthcare workers to persistent circadian misalignment and chronic sleep loss. These conditions are increasingly recognized as determinants of psychological distress and degraded occupational performance. This paper synthesizes evidence on how night shifts and sustained sleep deprivation influence mental health outcomes—stress, anxiety, depressive symptoms, burnout, and sleep-related disorders—alongside cognitive and behavioral changes that reduce job performance and threaten patient safety. The review highlights mechanistic pathways involving circadian disruption, neuroendocrine stress activation, inflammatory signaling, and impaired executive function. Workplace factors such as high workload, reduced staffing at night, limited supervision, and poor recovery time amplify risks, while individual factors (chronotype, family responsibilities, baseline sleep health) shape vulnerability and resilience. The paper also discusses practical, evidence-informed interventions at both organizational and individual levels, including fatigue-risk management systems, forward-rotating schedules, limits on consecutive night shifts, protected rest breaks, strategic napping, light management, mental health support, and screening for shift work disorder. Addressing the mental health burden of night work is critical for sustaining a healthy workforce, optimizing care quality, and strengthening patient safety culture.