[Perception of night-time sleep by the surgical patients in an intensive care unit]

Night-time rest of the patients hospitalized in Intensive Care is a very important feature within the health/disease process since it has a direct repercussion on their adequate recovery. The objectives of this investigation are: 1) describe how the surgical patients perceive their night-time sleep in the Polyvalent Intensive Care Unit: 2) compare the subjective perception of the patients with the nursing record in the care plan and analyze the degree of agreement between both assessments. Night-time sleep has been studied in 104 patients; surgery patients from emergencies, patients who are intubated, with previous psychiatric treatment, sleep apnea, drinking habit or impossibility of adequate communication were not included. To measure the patient's perception, the five item sleep questionnaire of Richards-Campbell and the assessment of sleep by the nurse, as well as the remaining variables included in a computerized care plan, were used. The total mean score of the sleep on the first post-operative night was 51.42 mm. When the scores obtained in each one of the questionnaire items are analyzed, it is seen that the sleep profile of these patients has been characterized by being light sleep, with frequent wakenings and generally with little difficulty to go back to sleep when woke op or were awakened. The assessment of the night-time sleep performed by the nurse coincides with the perception of the patients on many occasions, and when there is discrepancy, the nurse has overestimated the patient's sleep.