Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2024 Jan 18;23(1):51.
doi: 10.1186/s12912-023-01693-z.

Sleep quality and fatigue among nurses working in high-acuity clinical settings in Saudi Arabia: a cross-sectional study

Rana Ali Alameri  1 , Hebah A Almulla  2 , Afnan Hamad Al Swyan  2 , Sama S Hammad  2
Affiliations

Sleep quality and fatigue among nurses working in high-acuity clinical settings in Saudi Arabia: a cross-sectional study

Rana Ali Alameri et al. BMC Nurs. .

Abstract

Background: Poor sleep quality is prevalent among nurses worldwide. Around two-thirds of nurses doing shift work are known to experience sleep problems and fatigue. Fatigue and sleep problems are linked to poor performance, impaired alertness, injuries, chronic diseases, compromised healthcare quality, and medical errors, all of which detrimentally impact nurses and threaten patients' safety. This area of research has received insufficient attention in Saudi Arabia; therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the levels of sleep quality and perceived fatigue and their association among nurses working in acute care settings in comprehensive hospitals in Saudi Arabia.

Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index and Chalder Fatigue Scale. Data was obtained via an online questionnaire that was distributed to nurses using the QuestionPro platform through hospital administrators, social media (WhatsApp), and personal contact.

Results: A total of 173 nurses completed the online survey. Most participants reported poor sleep quality (n = 127, 73.4%) and severe perceived fatigue (n = 156, 90.2%). Furthermore, the study revealed a significant correlation between the overall sleep disturbance and fatigue global scores (r = 0.57, P < 0.001), indicating that poor sleep quality was significantly associated with higher fatigue levels among the study sample.

Conclusions: The current study found a significant association between sleep quality and severe fatigue in nurses working in high acute care settings in Saudi Arabia. It is very clear from the results that nurses are experiencing poor sleep and severe fatigue, which in turn, will negatively impact the nurse's quality of life and patient safety.

Keywords: Fatigue; Nurses; Sleep quality.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

References

    1. Buysse DJ, Charles F, Reynolds, Timothy HM, Carolyn CH, Amy LY, David JK. Quantification of subjective sleep quality in healthy elderly men and women using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). Assoc Prof Sleep Soc. 1991;14(4):331–8. - PubMed
    1. Christina S, Konjengbam S. Sleep quality among nurses in a tertiary hospital in Manipur. J Med Soc. 2019;33(3):146–51. doi: 10.4103/jms.jms_80_20. - DOI
    1. Pélissier C, Cavelier C, Vercherin P, Roche F, Patural H, Fontana L. Vigilance and sleepiness in nurses working 12-hr shifts and their coping strategies. J Nurs Adm Manag. 2020;9(5):962–70. - PubMed
    1. Shiffer, D., Minonzio, M., Dipaola, F., Bertola, M., Zamuner, A. R., Dalla Vecchia,L. A.,… Barbic, F. Effects of clockwise and counterclockwise job shift work rotation on sleep and work-life balance on hospital nurses. International journal of environmental research and public health. 2018;15(9): 2038. - PMC - PubMed
    1. American Academy of Sleep Medicine . International classification of Sleep disorders: Diagnostic and Coding Manual. 3. Darien, IL: American Academy of Sleep Medicine; 2014.

LinkOut - more resources