NIGHT WORKERS’ EXPERIENCE OF HEALTH AND QUALITY OF LIFE A qualitative study of night workers in the medical service and industry Jenny Nilsson Nilsson, J Night workers’ experience of health and quality of life. A qualitative study of night workers in the medical service and industry. Bachelor thesis in public health 10 ECTS credits. Malmö University: School of Health and Society, Department of Biomedical Laboratory Science, Public, Health and Nursing, 2006. As the number of labour workers, who permanently work nights or irregular hours principally during night increases, research studies simultaneously tend to show that night work has a negative affect on health. The purpose of my study was to examine how individuals, permanently working night in the medical service and in industry, experience their health and quality of life. This qualitative study has consisted of interviews focusing on primarily two questions at issue that were responded to. The interviews concerned important factors for night workers’ experience of health and quality of life, but also addressed eventual differences and similarities between the permanent night workers in the medical service and industry. Unfortunately, in the result, there was a lack of material expressing the respondents’ experience of health in particular, and therefore it was also difficult to make conclusions about crucial factors for the night workers’ health experience. Additionally, it was hard to evaluate if there were any differences between the different occupations. All respondents, from both occupations, experienced good quality of life, and sleeping habits, family relations comfort ness with colleagues and to have the opportunity to do things of priority, were indicators which had an impact on their life quality. Thus, there were some differences between the medical service workers and industry workers. These differences were mainly related to issues such as work structure and organization, issues that were more frequently mentioned among the medical service workers. The respondents in my study might only reveal parts about their health experience. But, since some research indicate that individuals experiencing good quality of life in the present also are possible to be of good health in the long term, I can with a base in the good quality of life the respondents claim to have, assume that their health is going to be influenced in a positive direction.