Sleep quality of hospital nurses during COVID‑19 pandemic

Context: In pandemic process, nurses, who are the primary day‑to‑day caretakers of COVID‑19 patients, encounter physical, psychological, and social problems due to the long working hours, the possibility of being exposed to the virus. These negative factors adversely affect the sleep quality of nurses.

Aims: We aimed to investigate sleep quality in nurses working at a hospital during the COVID‑19 pandemic.

Setting and Design: This cross‑sectional descriptive study was carried out between August and September 2020.

Materials and Methods: Study data were collected from 234 nurses working in a hospital in Turkey using demographic and professional characteristics form and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI).

Statistical Analysis: The data of the study were evaluated using the statistical software program SPSS 20.

Results: The nurses’ mean total PSQI score was found to be 10.76 ± 3.23. There was no statistically significant difference between the variables of age, gender, education and having children and the mean total PUKI score (P > 0.05).

Conclusion: In this study, it was determined that most of the nurses had sleep problems, and that their sleep quality was poor. It can be recommended to conduct more studies that draw attention to the sleep quality of nurses during the pandemic, and to evaluate the results and to share them with nurses and hospital administrators. Furthermore, it may be recommended to provide counseling to nurses on complementary practices (listening to music, massage, meditation, etc.) that will increase the motivation of nurses and provide mental relaxation.