Investigation of environmental stressors and sleep quality perceived by patients in the internal medicine intensive care unit

This study was conducted as a descriptive study to investigate the environmental stressors and sleep quality of patients hospitalized in the medical intensive care unit. The research was carried out with 137 patients in the Medical Intensive Care Unit of Kahramanmaraş Sütçü İmam University Hospital between December 2021 and March 2022. Patient Characteristics Form, Intensive Care Unit Environmental Stressors Scale and Richard-Campbell Sleep Questionnaire were used for data collection. t-test and ANOVA were used in statistical analyzes. The mean score of the Richard-Campbell Sleep Questionnaire of the patients was 35.97±10.07, majority (85.4%) had moderate sleep quality, and there were no patients with very good sleep quality. The mean score of Intensive Care Unit Environmental Stressors Scale of the patients was 124.47±15.91. The three most perceived stressors; having pain, being tied to tubes, and having no privacy. The three lowest perceived stressors; being cared for by unfamiliar doctors, doctors and nurses talking loudly, and nurses using incomprehensible words. There was a weak negative correlation between the sleep quality and intensive care unit environmental stressors mean scores of the patient, and this relationship was not statistically significant. Sleep quality of patients under 65 years of age, patients with high school and college education, working patients, and patients with 6-day or longer stay in the intensive care unit were found to be significantly lower. Intensive care unit environmental stressors perceived by female patients and patients who had no previous experience of intensive care were found to be significantly higher. It was recommended that nurses periodically evaluate the sleep quality of intensive care patients and the environmental stressors they perceive with valid and reliable measurement tools, and implement interventions to reduce and prevent the stressors arising from the intensive care environment that adversely affect the sleep quality of the patients.