Abstract
A review of the literature shows that shift work, in particular night shifts, have an adverse effect on road safety. This paper investigates further the rate of road accidents related to sleep duration and intake of anxiolytic drugs in shift nurses working medium and heavy workloads in the wards of a university hospital. The results of a survey carried out among 448 nursed are discussed. Road accidents were found to occur more frequently on the way home from morning and night shifts. The use of drugs by those who reported accidents was higher than for those who did not and was strongly correlated with accidents after morning shift. Those nurses who reported accidents generally slept less than their colleagues.