32 | Making Night Shift Safer: How One Hospital Successfully Implemented Napping for Nurses

Nurse fatigue isn’t just uncomfortable – it’s dangerous. In this episode, Dr. Pamela Hines and crisis nurse Brett Bagshaw from Children’s National Hospital explain how their organization became a national leader in implementing sanctioned night-shift napping. From alarming survey data to cultural barriers, space challenges, HR policy changes, and real nurse stories, this conversation offers a practical roadmap for any hospital looking to prioritize safety and wellness for its night-shift staff.

Key Takeaways

• Night-shift fatigue has real safety consequences, including drowsy driving and impaired clinical performance.
• A small, well-designed pilot project helped Children’s National gain leadership buy-in before expanding napping hospital-wide.
• Clear guidelines, protected spaces, and strong collaboration with security and HR were essential to implementation.
• Not all units adopt napping the same way – autonomy and unit-level decision-making improved success and acceptance.
• Survey data revealed high rates of near-miss incidents related to fatigue, strengthening the case for change.
• Napping is one part of a broader wellness approach that includes sleep hygiene, nutrition, and night-shift–specific support systems.
• A strong safety message helped shift culture: nurses must come to work rested, and naps are not guaranteed.
• Implementing napping can support recruitment, retention, and a perception of organizational care for night-shift workers.

Additional Reading

• Geiger-Brown, Harlow, Bagshaw, Sagherian & Hinds: “One Hospital’s Successful Initiative to Implement Napping for Night Shift Nurses.”https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34528852/  
• Napping on the Night Shift: A Two-Hospital Implementation Project (Am J Nurs, 2016) https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/39786