Shift workers and irregular sleep: practical strategies for Nashville's round-the-clock workforce

It’s 3:30 a.m. and the staff at Vanderbilt University Medical Center’s ER are still on high alert. Less than half a mile away, kitchen staff close up the Broadway honky-tonks while rideshare drivers shuttle the last revelers home on Demonbreun Street. In Nashville, thousands work through the night or early morning—and their sleep health is taking a hit.

The city’s 24/7 economy depends on shift workers: nurses, musicians, cooks, Metro sanitation employees, hotel housekeepers, and more. But rotating schedules and overtime can wreak havoc on sleep patterns. This is a timely public health issue—especially as more research connects chronic poor sleep to higher rates of heart disease, obesity, diabetes, and mental health disorders. With new research linking sleep disruption to long-term health problems, finding solutions is increasingly urgent.

Local support for restless nights

Nashville’s busy healthcare sector is especially affected. Vanderbilt’s Sleep Disorders Center, located in Hillsboro Village, reports an uptick in shift-work sleep complaints, especially since the pandemic. Nearby, Ascension Saint Thomas Hospital on Church Street has run seminars for night shift nurses teaching practical tools, like planned naps during break windows and the use of light-blocking curtains at home. At the YWCA on Woodmont Boulevard, late-night childcare staff swap blackout mask recommendations in the break room.

Rosemary Baird, a lifestyle coach at the Edgehill Branch YMCA, says evening exercise classes—once thought to disrupt sleep—can actually help shift workers wind down after a night on their feet. "We see a lot of nurses and first responders in our 8 a.m. yoga and Pilates groups," Baird says. "That’s the end of their day." West End Wellness, a sleep coaching service with an office near Centennial Park, started offering 30-minute walk-in consults ($45), aiming to fit around irregular and rotating shifts.

Science, scale and cost

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 15% of U.S. full-time workers are on non-standard schedules. That adds up to more than 65,000 people in Nashville, based on local labor figures from the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce. Research published in Sleep Health Journal last year found shift workers are up to 40% more likely to report insufficient sleep than those with standard hours. And for many, lost sleep erodes more than well-being—it can mean higher medical bills and lost wages from mistakes or illness. Melatonin supplements offered at Nashville-area pharmacies like the Walgreens on 8th Avenue cost $8-20 for a 60-day supply, but experts caution that pills are only one part of the toolkit.

Within Metro General Hospital, the on-site wellness team recently launched a monthly sleep health workshop for employees—free for staff and $25 for drop-ins. Attendance doubled between March and June, as more hospital support roles switched to 12-hour rotations. Similar offerings are showing up at the Music Row offices of several hospitality companies, which have begun distributing blue-light blocking glasses to their overnight workers.

Action steps and what's ahead

For shift workers in Nashville, small changes can help: schedule your "wind-down" routine the same way each day, wear sunglasses on the drive home to minimize sunlight exposure, and keep the bedroom cool and dark (Aim for 65°F, say West End Wellness coaches). Some deep sleepers swear by the Marpac sound machines (sold at Target on Charlotte Pike for under $40) to block daytime noise. If chronic insomnia kicks in, local sleep clinics at Vanderbilt or Saint Thomas offer tailored behavioral therapy options.

City officials are watching this issue, as Metro Nashville explores ways to make shift work less of a health hazard. For now, the onus is on individuals and employers—whether that's a Ziploc bag of earplugs stashed in a cleaning cart at Nissan Stadium or the sunrise yoga class at Shelby Park after a long night downtown. As the city keeps humming, so do its workers—one restorative nap at a time.