Effectiveness of a Mobile Wellness Program for Nurses with Rotating Shifts during COVID-19 Pandemic: A Pilot Cluster-Randomized Trial

Nurses with rotating shifts, including night shifts, have suffered from low physical activity during the COVID-19 pandemic and lower sleep quality due to the disruption of their circadian rhythm. This study aimed to develop and examine the effectiveness of a mobile wellness program on daily steps, sleep quality, exercise self-efficacy, intrinsic motivation for exercise, self-rated fatigue, and wellness. A cluster randomized controlled trial design was used to examine the effectiveness of the mobile wellness program for nurses with rotating shifts. Sixty nurses from one university hospital participated and were allocated to an intervention group and a control group. The intervention group received a 12-week mobile wellness program to improve their physical activity and sleep quality, and the control group was only given a Fitbit to self-monitor their health behaviors. There were significant differences between the two groups in daily steps (p = 0.000), three components (subjective sleep quality, sleep disturbance, daytime dysfunction) of the PSQI, exercise self-efficacy, intrinsic motivation for exercise, and wellness. In conclusion, this study provides meaningful information that the mobile wellness program using Fitbit, online exercise using Zoom, online health coaching on a Korean mobile platform, and motivational text messages effectively promoted physical activity and sleep quality for nurses with rotating shifts during the COVID-19 pandemic.