{"id":29918,"date":"2026-05-23T10:52:11","date_gmt":"2026-05-23T10:52:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/swn.af\/en\/?p=29918"},"modified":"2026-05-23T10:53:56","modified_gmt":"2026-05-23T10:53:56","slug":"working-night-shifts-challenges-faced-by-female-doctors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/swn.af\/en\/2026\/05\/working-night-shifts-challenges-faced-by-female-doctors\/","title":{"rendered":"Working night shifts; challenges faced by female doctors"},"content":{"rendered":"

25 female doctors, who in addition to their official regular daytime duties also take turns working night shifts in hospitals, say that due to the shortage of medical staff in healthcare centers, they are compelled to endure heavy and continuous workloads. According to them, this situation has led to severe fatigue and psychological stress.<\/strong><\/p>\n

These female doctors\u201415 working in private hospitals and 10 in public hospitals during night shifts\u2014report various challenges in their work, including a lack of necessary equipment, security concerns, extreme exhaustion, long working hours, low salaries, and psychological pressure.<\/p>\n

Low salary and limited facilities<\/strong><\/p>\n

Zohra, a 37-year-old employee at a public hospital, despite acknowledging some improvements, complains about low salary and delayed payments. She says,<\/p>\n

\u201cI also work as night-duty staff. There are some facilities and some problems. Our salary is low and is not paid on time. At night, our food is less and we do not have a proper place to sleep.\u201d<\/p>\n

Halima, a 27-year-old who works at a private hospital in Kabul, speaks about her family\u2019s concerns regarding lack of sufficient security. She says,<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a woman working at night, I face many problems. Despite having very little sleep and being overloaded with work, my family remains concerned due to insufficient security.\u201d<\/p>\n

A number of doctors believe that, in many hospitals, there are no proper rest rooms for night-shift staff, and access to basic facilities is limited\u2014an issue that further increases their workload and stress.<\/p>\n

Social pressure and security challenges<\/strong><\/p>\n

Marwa Malekzada, a 36-year-old doctor at a public hospital in Kabul, says that lack of family support and inappropriate behavior from some members of society have intensified the difficulties of working night shifts. She explains,<\/p>\n

\u201cAt work, we face numerous physical, psychological, and social challenges, including having little sleep, stress, and a lack of facilities, which makes me concerned.\u201d<\/p>\n

Samira, a 30-year-old doctor working night shifts at a private hospital in Kabul, says she has been forced to leave work several times due to security problems on her way to the hospital, especially at night.<\/p>\n

\u201cDuring night shifts, I face problems such as insecurity, severe fatigue, and a lack of facilities. Also, due to staff shortages at night, the workload is heavier,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Basira, another 30-year-old doctor at a public hospital in Kabul who left her job due to traditional beliefs in society, says,<\/p>\n

\u201cFor a woman to properly work night shifts, the government must provide a safe environment and proper accommodation facilities.\u201d<\/p>\n

Female doctors\u2019 demands from the government<\/strong><\/p>\n

Female doctors are calling for serious and practical action from the government and relevant institutions to improve their working conditions.<\/p>\n

Nahid, a 36-year-old doctor at a public hospital in Kabul, identifies public awareness about the importance of women working night shifts, along with ensuring security and providing basic facilities, as essential needs of female doctors.<\/p>\n

\u201cWomen who work as night-duty staff face many problems both at home and in society. I call on the government and institutions to raise awareness about women\u2019s work and also provide security, transportation, and facilities for female doctors,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Shortage of female doctors <\/strong><\/p>\n

Some patients who visited hospitals at night say that the shortage of female medical staff during night shifts has caused patients not to receive proper and timely treatment. However, they also express appreciation for the responsibility of female doctors.<\/p>\n

Maryam, a woman who visited Rabia Balkhi Hospital at night, says,<\/p>\n

\u201cI was sick and went to the hospital at night. The number of female doctors and nurses was low, and they were not able to treat all patients, but they helped and served us a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n

Experts\u2019 views and officials\u2019 responses<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sociologists say that traditional beliefs and lack of public awareness regarding women working at night are major challenges for female night-shift workers.<\/p>\n

Shoaib Ahmadi, a sociologist, says, \u201cThe problems faced by female night-shift staff stem from traditional societal beliefs that do not consider night work suitable for women. The lack of job opportunities, facilities, and proper social upbringing has also added to their difficulties.\u201d<\/p>\n

Psychologists also point to the negative effects of night shifts on the mental health of female doctors, though they say that proper planning can help reduce some of these impacts. Zuhal Amirzada, a psychologist, says,<\/p>\n

\u201cNight-shift work has a significant impact on mental health, and this impact is greater on women. It affects hormones, mood, and concentration; however, with proper planning, individuals can regulate their daytime sleep and compensate for lack of sleep.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, some hospital officials say that all necessary facilities are provided for night-shift staff, including food, a proper place for rest, a safe environment, and hygiene supplies, enabling medical personnel to perform their duties under better conditions.<\/p>\n

Faridullah Omari, spokesperson for the Specialized Infectious Diseases Hospital in Kabul, says,<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the Infectious Diseases Hospital, 60 night-shift staff, including both women and men, work at night. They are provided with food, specialized hospital clothes, and rest facilities, and doctors are assigned night duty every two or three days.\u201d<\/p>\n

Officials from the Ministry of Public Health also report ongoing monitoring and efforts to improve working conditions in hospitals and healthcare centers.<\/p>\n

Sharafat Zaman Amarkhil, spokesperson for the Ministry of Public Health, told Salam Watandar,<\/p>\n

\u201cTo ensure hospitals can provide quality services for night-duty doctors, monitoring continues in both the private and public sectors, in the capital and provinces, to ensure that standard services are delivered. Hospitals that do not comply with ministry regulations have been sealed or required to provide formal commitments.\u201d<\/p>\n

With the increasing demand for night healthcare services and the shortage of female doctors in Afghanistan, many women doctors continue to work night shifts under difficult conditions and with limited facilities. In addition to fatigue and work pressure, they also face social challenges, yet continue to provide healthcare services.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, restrictions on education in some medical and health-related fields have raised concerns about a shortage of female doctors and healthcare staff in the future. According to some international organizations, this could place even greater pressure on female healthcare workers.<\/p>\n

Reporter: Twoba Rasuli<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

25 female doctors, who in addition to their official regular daytime duties also take turns working night shifts in hospitals, say that due to the shortage of medical staff in healthcare centers, they are compelled to endure heavy and continuous workloads. According to them, this situation has led to severe fatigue and psychological stress.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":29920,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[990,186,218,24],"tags":[1528,1907,1908],"class_list":["post-29918","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest","category-investigative-reports","category-health","category-women","tag-challenges","tag-night-shifts","tag-female-doctors"],"views":4,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/swn.af\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29918","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/swn.af\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/swn.af\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swn.af\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swn.af\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29918"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/swn.af\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29918\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29921,"href":"https:\/\/swn.af\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29918\/revisions\/29921"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swn.af\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29920"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/swn.af\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29918"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swn.af\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29918"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swn.af\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29918"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}