[External barriers to good sleep from the nursing home residents' perspective]

Abstract

Background: Nursing home residents often suffer from sleep disorders. For nurses, nursing home residents' sleep disorders are a complex problem. The nursing home residents' perspective on sleep and sleep disorders has been unknown yet. The Aim of this article is to describe external barriers to good sleep from the nursing home residents' perspective and to deduce implications for nursing practice.

Methods: A qualitative interview study. 30 nursing home residents (at least 64 years old and oriented on place and person) from five different nursing homes in Berlin have been interviewed through episodic interviews. The data has been analyzed by use of thematic coding.

Results: The sample consists of 20 women and 10 men, born between 1909 and 1944. From the nursing home residents' perspective, noise and light at night disturb their sleep. Noise and light can be caused by other residents or staff. The interviewed residents perceived disorientated room mates and room mates who needed frequently care at night as disturbing their night sleep. Additionally, the interviewed residents perceived the nurses' nightly rounds as disturbing.

Conclusions: Nurses and residents should look together for possibilities of reducing nightly disturbances of sleep. Nursing home residents who need frequent nightly care should be living in rooms together with residents demanding a similar amount of nightly care. Nightly rounds should be minimized.