For anyone working rotating shifts in aged care, the idea of a “normal” sleep pattern can feel like a luxury. Early starts, evening shifts, and overnight care rosters all pull against the body’s natural rhythm, and the sector is feeling it. A recent survey found that 65.1% of Victorian health and aged care workers reported emotional exhaustion reflecting moderate to severe burnout, with poor sleep and fatigue named as major drivers.
It’s part of why the Australasian Sleep Association and Sleep Health Foundation have specifically called out aged care workers in policy proposals aimed at tackling shift worker fatigue.
One of the simplest, cheapest tools available for managing this is something most facilities already have plenty of: daylight. Light exposure timing has a direct, measurable effect on the body’s circadian clock, and using it well can make the difference between constantly fighting your roster and actually working with it.
Your body clock cares about when you see bright light, not just whether you do. Light in the morning tends to shift your clock earlier, while light in the late afternoon and evening tends to shift it later. NIOSH’s training material for nurses puts some rough figures on this: light seen in the roughly two hours around your usual wake-up time can shift your clock about an hour earlier per day, while light seen in the two hours around your usual bedtime can shift it about two hours later per day.
Newer research also suggests a second window worth knowing about, roughly six to nine hours after you wake, where afternoon light may have more power to shift the clock earlier than previously thought.
This is the mechanism behind advice like neuroscientist and health influencer Andrew Huberman’s famed morning and late-afternoon light protocols. You don’t need to stare at the sun (please don’t) and you don’t need a cloudless sky. Outdoor light, even on an overcast day, is far brighter than any indoor lighting, and that’s what your circadian system responds to.
If you’re on early or day shifts: Get outside within an hour of waking, for at least 10 to 20 minutes if you can manage it. A tea break in the courtyard, walking the last stretch to work, or even just standing in the car park works. This helps lock your body clock into an earlier, more consistent rhythm, which tends to make waking up easier over time.
If you’re on evening shifts: Try to get bright light exposure in the afternoon before you start, rather than after you finish. Light late at night, close to when you’d normally wind down, will only push your sleep later and make the next early shift harder.
If you’re on night shifts: This is where timing matters most. During your shift, keep indoor areas as brightly lit as practical, particularly in the first half of the night, since bright light on breaks helps suppress the sleepiness and melatonin rise that normally happens overnight. On the drive or walk home, wear sunglasses. Getting hit with full morning sun right as you’re trying to wind down works against you, delaying the very sleep you need. Some sleep researchers also recommend avoiding bright light and using blue light filters once a night shift ends.
If you’re rotating between shift types: This is the hardest pattern for the body clock to adapt to, and it’s worth being deliberate rather than letting light exposure happen by accident. On the days you’re transitioning from nights back to a normal schedule, prioritise morning outdoor light to help reset earlier, and avoid it in the evening for a day or two.
Fatigue in aged care isn’t just a staff welfare issue, it’s a resident safety one. Shift work fatigue has been linked to a substantial share of workplace injuries and errors among healthcare staff.
Facilities that build simple light exposure breaks into rostering, even something as small as encouraging a walk outside between tasks, are investing in a low-cost, evidence-backed way to support both staff and the people in their care.
