How to manage night shift planning and wellbeing more effectively

Globally, an estimated one in five workers (15-20%) work night shifts. This translates to a significant portion of the world's workforce engaged in continuous operations and service provision, especially in sectors like healthcare, security, and manufacturing.

Supporting your night‑shift teams is critical to maintain staff well‑being, morale and performance - and it starts with managing your roster correctly.

The challenges of night shifts

Night shifts disrupt employees' circadian rhythms, which can significantly impact physical and mental health, safety and social well‑being.

Your circadian rhythm is an internal clock that tells you when to wake up and sleep. During the day, sunlight keeps you alert; at night, darkness tells your body it's time to rest. But what happens when your job has you active at night and trying to sleep during the day?

Night shift workers sleep 25-33% less than day workers as a result of the circadian rhythm disruption, and increased rates of cardiovascular issues, digestive disorders and psychological stress are just some of the many well‑documented effects of working consistent night shifts.

In healthcare, 71% of night‑shift hospital staff report poor sleep quality versus 50% of day staff and particularly in ED and ICU- clinical handovers during night shifts are vulnerable to errors due to fatigue and inconsistent procedures.

Optimising roster best practices and investing in personal wellbeing strategies is essential to reducing these long-term negative effects.

How to manage night shift planning more effectively

A good roster considers more than just coverage - it supports staff wellbeing, safety, and compliance, especially when planning night shifts. As a manager responsible for your team's health, shift scheduling is often an overlooked aspect but often has a huge impact.

Here are 5 areas to consider as a manager responsible for the staff roster:

1) Roster for fatigue management

Managing fatigue isn’t just about complying with guidelines - it’s about protecting staff and the people they serve. In some industries like healthcare, where night shift workers are responsible for patient care it can be the difference between life and death.

Rosters should therefore be built to include sufficient rest between shifts, limit consecutive nights, and ensure fair rotation patterns to distribute load equitably.

If you’re still using manual spreadsheets, try to schedule regular audits to spot patterns and address unfair rotation patterns. You could also create a checklist roster against fatigue and compliance rules (particularly useful as a training tool if you often have to hand the roster to someone else).

Alternatively, rostering tools can help ensure these principles are upheld, not left to chance. By automatically flagging fatigue risks and optimising shift sequencing, new technology platforms enable planners to create safer, more sustainable schedules - without adding administrative burden.

2) Meet shift preferences and requests

Respecting shift preferences wherever possible goes a long way in making night work sustainable for your employees long-term and also helps reduce staff turnover and absenteeism. For example, some staff may prefer consecutive night shifts for routine, while others favour splitting nights across weeks.

Allowing employees to express these preferences - and doing your best to honour them - demonstrates respect and builds goodwill.

In healthcare, this could mean aligning rosters with childcare responsibilities, training rotations, or clinical development goals. In call centres, aligning shifts with energy peaks or personal commitments can improve focus and work-life balance.

Meeting preferences isn’t about saying yes to everything - it’s about creating transparent, equitable systems that balance individual needs with operational demands. That balance helps turn night shift roles from a necessary evil into a respected, rewarding part of your staffing model.

3) Ensure your night shifts are compliant

Night shifts in healthcare come with complex compliance obligations - from penal rates and safe staffing to on-call protocols and minimum break entitlements.

Under the NZNO MECA, for instance, night work must be remunerated at specific penal rates, and nurses are entitled to clear rest periods and limits on overtime to avoid fatigue breaches. Similar standards exist in the MERAS agreement for midwives, and in the AMA Victoria agreement for doctors.

If you're rostering manually, centralising your key rules i.e. keeping an accessible summary of relevant MECA clauses and employment conditions (e.g. rest breaks, penal rates, maximum hours) could be a useful method. However, keeping track of these requirements manually is time-consuming and error-prone.

Intelligent rostering systems can ensure compliance is baked in from the start, flagging rule breaches and ensuring your schedule aligns with union agreements and workforce laws - helping you avoid disputes, penalties, or unsafe staffing

4) Prioritise employee wellbeing

Night work can take a toll on physical and mental wellbeing, often leaving staff feeling isolated, under-supported, or invisible. To counter this, roster writers should proactively rotate shifts, avoid back-to-back night-day transitions, and factor in preferences where possible.

Consistent patterns - like grouping nights together rather than scattering them - can also support sleep regulation and work-life balance.

Beyond the roster itself, wellbeing includes access to nutritious food overnight, rest areas, and mental health support. When night shift workers feel seen and valued, their performance, retention, and morale all improve.

5) Recognise and reward night staff

Night shifts are tough - yet often under-recognised. While financial penalties compensate staff to some degree, meaningful recognition goes beyond payslips. Simple practices like highlighting night teams in staff communications, celebrating successes, and gathering regular feedback can boost morale and engagement.

Long-term, reward systems might include additional leave, professional development funding, or access to wellbeing perks.

6) Provide good training and support

Supporting night shift workers begins with high-quality onboarding and ongoing training to the unique demands of overnight work.

In clinical environments like EDs and ICUs, this includes clear guidelines on patient handovers, fatigue management protocols, and emergency escalation procedures during low staffing hours. Call centres benefit from scenario-based training that prepares staff for late-night customer issues, particularly when supervision may be limited.

When night staff feel confident in their knowledge and equipped for the challenges they’ll face, both safety and job satisfaction improve significantly.

Ongoing support is just as crucial. Night workers often miss out on daytime staff meetings or informal mentoring moments. Leaders can bridge this gap by scheduling dedicated night-shift briefings, peer buddy systems, and providing easy access to HR or mental health resources outside of 9-5 hours.

Wellbeing tips for supporting your night-shift staff

From practical training sessions to simple workplace posters, there are many ways to embed wellbeing into your night-shift culture.

The following tips offer low-cost, high-impact ways to start building a healthier night shift culture from the ground up:

Encourage effective sleep habits

Encouraging staff to adopt consistent sleep routines is one of the most effective ways to support night-shift wellbeing. Remind your team that it’s not just about how long they sleep, but how well they sleep.

Promote habits like going to bed and waking up at the same time each day (even on days off) to help stabilise their body clock. You can reinforce this through team discussions, posters in break rooms, or wellbeing sessions.

Building awareness about the importance of routine sends a strong message that their health matters.

Optimal sleep environment training

There is a strong correlation between sleep environment and sleep quality. Factors like noise, light, temperature, humidity, and even the presence of plants or artificial facilities in a bedroom can significantly impact how well a person sleeps.

You can help your team understand how to create a good sleep environment by sharing tips on using blackout curtains, earplugs, or white noise machines to block out daytime light and noise. These are small, affordable tools that can make a big difference in sleep quality.

Encourage staff to experiment with what works for them, and consider including sleep hygiene education in training.

As a manager, supporting these changes shows leadership that goes beyond the roster - it shows genuine care for how your team feels when they clock out, not just when they clock in.

Control light exposure

Light plays a powerful role in regulating the body’s internal clock - and for night shift workers, managing it smartly can make all the difference in staying alert on the job and sleeping well afterward.

Encourage staff to work in well-lit environments during their shifts. Bright lighting helps suppress melatonin, keeping them more awake and focused throughout the night. This is especially important in clinical areas like EDs or ICUs, where reduced alertness can lead to serious risks.

Equally important is helping staff wind down after their shift. Recommend wearing sunglasses on the way home to reduce exposure to morning light, which can confuse the body into thinking it’s time to stay awake.

At home, blackout curtains and limiting screen time before bed can make it easier to fall asleep. Simple education - whether through a quick handout or team discussion - can help your staff understand the “light and dark” cues their bodies respond to.

Encourage smarter night shift eating

When working night shifts, eating healthy might not always seem like an important priority. However, what and when employees eat can hugely impact their metabolism and overall health. It's about more than just filling stomachs; it's about fueling teams in a way that supports natural rhythms, even when their work schedule tries to do the opposite.

The goal is to mimic daytime meal timing - breakfast after waking, largest meal pre-shift. Eat light during the night to aid digestion and aim for at least a 2-hour window between their last meal and bedtime.

Choosing what to eat is also crucial. Night shift workers should be encouraged to choose easily digestible foods to avoid indigestion and discomfort that can come from eating heavy meals and then being active at work.

Posters around the canteen and rest areas that promote plenty of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and lean proteins into their meals is a positive reminder. These foods provide sustained energy, which is essential when your body’s natural energy cycle is disrupted by working at night.

Allow staff to take strategic naps

Power naps (20 - 30 minutes) before or mid-shift improve alertness. If your policies allow for it - encourage staff to schedule a brief nap during their break to help maintain high levels of performance during the late hours of their shift when fatigue typically sets in. Even short rests in ED or call centres help reduce errors.

Try setting up a dedicated nap area in a dark, quiet place to allow employees to fall asleep quickly and sleep soundly during their nap time.

Employees should be encouraged to take their naps for 20-30 minutes to avoid sleep inertia (the grogginess felt after waking up from deep sleep). It can help to set an alarm so they don’t oversleep. Remember, the goal is a quick energy boost, not a deep sleep session.

Use caffeine wisely

Spread moderate intake (200 - 400 mg) early in the shift - the equivalent of approximately 2-4 cups. The best strategy is to start with a small dose early in the shift and then have small amounts periodically. This helps avoid the sudden crash that can come from consuming large amounts all at once.

Avoid caffeine 4 - 6 hours before sleep. This gives your body time to process the caffeine and helps you wind down so you can get better rest.

Pay attention to how caffeine affects you. If you notice that you're having trouble sleeping even when you stop drinking it well before your bedtime or if you feel too jittery during your shift, it might be time to cut back. Remember, caffeine is a tool to help you stay alert, but it’s not a substitute for sleep.

Build social support

Night shifts can feel isolating - especially when much of the organisation is offline and fewer team members are on site. Building social support into the structure of your night operations helps counteract this isolation, creating a stronger sense of connection and resilience.

Encouraging informal peer check‑ins, where staff regularly chat with each other during breaks or shift transitions, helps foster camaraderie and creates space to share concerns early. These small touchpoints can make a big difference in reducing feelings of disconnection or stress.

In clinical environments like EDs or ICUs, where emotional intensity can run high, formalising this support is even more crucial. Short, structured team debriefs after challenging night events - such as high-pressure handovers or critical incidents - give staff a chance to reflect, decompress, and flag support needs.

Supervisors can also play a powerful role simply by being visible: occasional night rounds, even virtually, let night staff know they’re not alone. These moments of connection help create a culture where staff feel supported and valued - regardless of the hour.

The reality of supporting your night shift team

Night shifts are a reality for millions of workers worldwide - and supporting those who work through the night is more than a duty; it’s a strategic imperative. From ED nurses and ICU staff to call centre agents and security teams, these roles are vital to keeping essential services running 24/7.

By taking a proactive, empathetic approach - managing rosters thoughtfully, prioritising wellbeing, and creating supportive environments - organisations can help their night‑shift staff stay healthy, engaged, and high-performing.

Smart, people‑centred scheduling tools like RosterLab’s digital rostering solution play a key role in making that possible.