Sleep disorders in Italian nursing students: a pilot study.

Abstract

  BACKGROUND: The nursing profession is particularly susceptible to sleep disturbances due to altered circadian rhythms, frequent changes in shift patterns, and overtime work, resulting in fewer hours devoted to sleep and an increased risk of errors in care. Sleep disorders, however, seem to start as early as during undergraduate training: in fact, it has been found that the high teaching load and the sudden alternation between theory, exams, and internship can be a source of stress and anxiety, leading to these kinds of disorders even during basic training. This study, therefore, set out to investigate the incidence of sleep disorders and examine the factors associated with them among nursing students in Italy. METHODS: A cross-sectional web-based study was conducted from January to August 2022, administering the Italian version of the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) was administered. The normality of the distribution was assessed using the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test. A binary logistic regression analysis was performed. RESULTS: The survey was completed by 4898 students. The Kolmogorov-Smirnov test stated that the scores followed a normal distribution. The logistic regression found that being female, suffering from a disease, being a working student, regularly consuming tea or alcohol, and perceiving that sleep disorders impact academic performance are factors influencing the occurrence of sleep disorders.CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest nurse educators to implement strategies to facilitate the path of nursing students and reduce the risk of errors in nursing. Official studies of individual universities should confirm this pilot study's results.