Nurses' autonomy in sleep management improves patients' sleep quality: A cross-sectional study

Area of Science:

• Critical Care Nursing
• Sleep Medicine
• Patient Outcomes

Background:

• Intensive care unit (ICU) patients frequently experience poor sleep quality.
• Poor sleep in ICUs is linked to adverse physical and psychological health consequences.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine nursing practices for promoting sleep in adult ICU patients.
• To assess nurses' perceptions of patient sleep quality and their autonomy in sleep management.

Main Methods:

• A descriptive-correlational, cross-sectional study involving 119 ICU nurses in Poland.
• Data collected via questionnaire and analyzed using descriptive statistics and non-parametric tests.

Main Results:

• Nurses rated patient sleep quality as moderate and rarely used sleep protocols.
• Nurses' professional autonomy in sleep management positively correlated with patient sleep quality.
• Higher perceived autonomy and involvement in sleep decisions were linked to increased use of sleep improvement strategies.

Conclusions:

• Improving ICU nurses' professional autonomy and developing standardized sleep management tools are crucial for enhancing patient sleep quality.
• Addressing organizational barriers and establishing clinical guidelines can empower nurses to implement sleep improvement methods independently.