| Description |
Background: Hospitalized patients are at risk of experiencing an increase in sleep disruptions and a decrease in quality of sleep. Illness, pain, medical interventions, treatments, and the hospital environment can lead to poor sleep. Poor sleep quality can lead to many adverse effects, including depression and anxiety, fatigue and daytime tiredness, poor memory, confusion, and delirium. For hospitalized patients, this can mean an increase in recovery times, an increase in complications, and an increase in healthcare costs.Offering hospitalized patients a variety of non-pharmacological interventions aimed at improving sleep can help improve patient sleep quality.Methods: The purpose of this scholarly project was to improve patient quality of sleep in adults admitted to inpatient Med/Surg floors with the implementation of nurse-driven sleep hygiene guidelines. Baseline data were collected from hospitalized patients using Richard's Campbell Sleep Questionnaire (RCSQ) before the implementation of sleep hygiene guidelines. Educational materials, including a PowerPoint presentation and written instructions, were developed to educate nursing staff about patient barriers and proposed sleep hygiene guidelines. The sleep hygiene guidelines were created utilizing staff input, evidence-based research, and contribution from a content expert. The nursing staff implemented the guidelines into their nightly patient care routines and measured their average compliance with guideline implementation. The post-implementation RCSQ survey data were collected from the patients and compared to the pre-implementation data. The number of times the staff entered a patient room was documented pre and post-implementation.Results: A total of 50 patients pre-intervention and 66 patients post-intervention participated in the RCSQ survey. A statistically significant change in both sleep depth (p= 0.002) and quality of sleep (p= 0.05) was seen from pre-intervention to post-intervention periods. The mean scores for sleep depth increased from M = 45.9 (SD = 32.2) to 63.2 (SD I= 27.2) and the mean scores for quality of sleep increased from M = 52.9 (SD = 26.1) to M= 62.8 (SD= 26.7). There was not a statistically significant difference seen in pre- to post-intervention groups for sleep latency, awakenings, returning to sleep, noise level, and lighting. The pre-intervention mean calculated for the number of times a patient room was entered was 9.2 (SD= 1.19), and the post-intervention mean was 7.7 (SD= 0.76), showing a statistically significant difference between time periods (p = 0.00007). Compliance with the implementation of the sleep hygiene guidelines by the nursing staff ranged from 16.6% to 100%, with an overall compliance average of 78.6%.Conclusions: Implementation of sleep hygiene guidelines by nursing staff on a Med/Surg floor resulted in a statistically significant improvement in patient-perceived sleep quality and sleep depth, and a decrease in the number of times the staff entered a patient's room. The interventions were supported by the nursing staff and were simple to implement in patient care routines. |
