Sleep quality and the associated factors among in-hospital nursing assistants in general hospital: A cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND

Sleep quality and the associated factors in professional nurses have been extensively investigated. However, as an important part of the workforce in hospitals, sleep quality and influencing factors among in-hospital nursing assistants is rarely investigated.

AIM

This study aimed to assess the sleep quality and the associated factors of in-hospital nursing assistants in general hospital.

METHODS

A cross-sectional survey study was conducted in a tertiary general hospital. Data were collected from 187 in-hospital nursing assistants using convenience sampling from June to July 2018. The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) was used to evaluate participants' sleep quality. A multiple linear regression was performed to identify associated factors with sleep quality.

RESULTS

This study revealed a mean PSQI score of 5.96 ± 3.64 among all participants, of which 62.3% (114/187) participants suffered from impaired sleep quality. In-hospital nursing assistants with significant medical condition, low monthly income, irregular diet and high family burden reported more worse sleep quality.

CONCLUSION

The study showed that poor sleep quality is a highly prevalent issue among Chinese in-hospital nursing assistants in general hospital. Measures to enhance nursing assistants' wellbeing status (health and burden) and improve their salary (monthly income) are recommended.