Cheyenne Roche: The impacts of night shift
Apr. 18—When people find out my husband Patrick works night shifts, they always ask me how difficult it is.
He's been on nights since he began with the Creston Police Department in 2020, and we've fallen into routine over the years.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, approximately 16% of workers had work shifts outside a regular daytime schedule.
As I'm writing this, it's mid afternoon and Patrick is still asleep. He doesn't solely work overnights, but he works a combination of evening and overnight shifts. This means some days are better than others.
Tonight, for instance, we will see each other from when he gets up at approximately 5 p.m. until he heads into work at 10 p.m. This is the day we have the most contact, other than his days off.
For many couples, this may not work. And I'd be lying if I said it was without its challenges. Perhaps the biggest challenge is the guilt I feel when we are required to do something that cuts into his sleep.
Our IVF journey has done this quite a bit. Monday, we need to be in Des Moines at 8:40 a.m. for an appointment. While he doesn't work the night before, it's still a drastic change for him to be up that early.
It's a trade off. The two major roles of career and family life compete for time and energy so that you have to sacrifice parts of one in order for the other to function well.
I get this. It always works out that on his days off, I have games, meets or events to attend in the evenings. While the marriage always comes first, sometimes spending time together comes second. And that can be OK.
Research shows shiftwork can have a big impact on marital quality and stability for newlyweds. But the longer couples have been married the less impact it tends to have.
This is attributed to the couple knowing how to support each other and face challenges together so they can make adjustments.
Journal of Marriage and the Family found men married fewer than five years and with at least one child, working fixed nights made separation or divorce six times more likely than working days. Mothers married more than five years and who worked fixed night shifts were three times more likely than day shifters to experience separation or divorce.
Marriage is complex and difficult. It's a war of internal and external battles. Sometimes you fight together and sometimes you fight each other.
A survey conducted by Utah Valley University found 35% of police officers reported marriage or relationship troubles because of a lack of time at home.
Many organizations combat these night shift struggles by offering shift differential. This is an increase in compensation for employees to work night shift or other shifts scheduled outside of "regular hours."
While the City of Creston does not offer this as an employment benefit, research shows shift differentials can attract and retain talent as employees may feel better about working less-popular shifts, and may be more willing to take on shifts that others might not want to work. In addition, it showed an increase in employee morale and engagement.
While it seems like a lot to offer more money simply for a night shift, the data shows the night shift is significantly more damaging to one's health than a day shift position.
NIH reports night shift work increases the risk of developing diabetes, heart disease and obesity. It disrupts the body's circadian rhythms—the 24-hour internal "clock" that controls when you sleep and wake.
Studies have shown eating at night alters the body's metabolism. Specifically, it impairs your ability to process blood sugar, or glucose.
The only suggestions given to combat this metabolical issue is to solely eat during the daytime. If Patrick wakes up at 5 p.m., that would give him one meal until he goes back to sleep at 8 a.m. It's simply not a good long-term solution.
Shift work can also affect mental health, with the risk of depression and mood disorders increasing for those working during the night. This can manifest itself in negative thinking, anger or having a short fuse.
While Patrick has not shown any of these signs thus far, (except his grumpy attitude when I make him wake up early) he has no plans to leave night shift anytime soon. These could manifest throughout his life, and I think it's fair organizations, companies and governments look into providing more adequate pay.
