Even short periods of night shifts can have a significant impact on residents' mental and physical health: in this before-after study of Swiss internal medicine residents, sleep medication intake increased 3-fold, many residents had increased burnout scores, and care-related regrets and poor coping with them were frequent.
Sleep medication intake among internal medicine residents rose from 7.3% to 24.4% after a 1-month period of night shifts.
Most residents had low burnout at baseline, but a substantial share had clinically relevant increases in burnout scores after night shifts.
Proportions of residents with moderate or high burnout increased for personal and patient-related burnout but not for professional burnout, and the changes were not statistically significant.
A quarter of residents reported regrets about actions taken during their shift, and all of those residents were women.
Residents reported limited coping abilities with care-related regret, with frequent use of maladaptive strategies.
The study was a before-after analysis of a subset of data from the Nightshift project in Geneva, with 41 of 55 screened residents included.
The authors conclude that short night-shift periods can affect residents' mental and physical health and that findings should inform scheduling and training policies.
This study followed 41 internal medicine residents at Geneva University Hospitals who completed anonymous surveys before and after a one-month stretch of night shifts. After the night shifts, the share of residents taking sleep medication rose from about 7% to about 24%, roughly tripling. Burnout scores also tended to worsen. Most residents had low burnout at the start, but at least 30% had a notable score increase in each burnout dimension. The share with moderate or high personal and patient-related burnout rose, though these changes were not statistically significant, possibly because the group was small. About a quarter of residents reported regrets about care decisions made during shifts (all of them women), and most used unhelpful ways of coping with those regrets. This research suggests that even a short period of night work may affect doctors-in-training physically and mentally. Because the study was small, in a single hospital division, and had no comparison group, it cannot prove night shifts were the cause. The authors argue the findings are relevant for planning schedules and for teaching residents healthier sleep habits, burnout prevention and ways to cope with regret, especially as rules limiting daily working hours may increase night duty.
Berner A, Buclin C, Courvoisier D, Reny J, Garin N, Serratrice J, et al.. (2026). Negative impact of a 1-month period of night shifts on mental and physical health among Swiss internal medicine residents.. Swiss medical weekly. https://doi.org/10.57187/4027