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. 2024 Jul 19;16(7):e64889.
doi: 10.7759/cureus.64889. eCollection 2024 Jul.

War Injuries and Nurses' Well-Being: Fatigue and Sleep Quality Among Critical Care Nurses in Najran Region, Saudi Arabia

Samah Ramadan Elrefaey  1   2 , Sameer H Hamdy Sr  3 , Mohammed Abdelrahman  3 , Shaimaa Mohamed Nageeb  4 , Randa Mohamed Abobaker  5 , Mohmmad Alhusinat  6 , Reem Aied Assiry  7 , Amal H Mohamed  8 , Elsadig Eltaher Hamed Abdulrahman  9 , Fatma Abdelaziz Mohammed  10   11
Affiliations

War Injuries and Nurses' Well-Being: Fatigue and Sleep Quality Among Critical Care Nurses in Najran Region, Saudi Arabia

Samah Ramadan Elrefaey et al. Cureus. .

Abstract

Introduction Critical care nurses must maintain optimal work performance. Fatigue and sleep disturbance can limit safe practice and cause negative patient outcomes. This study aimed to explore fatigue and sleep quality among critical care nurses in the war zone in Najran City, Saudi Arabia. Methods A cross-sectional research design was used and a convenience sample was applied to include 352 nurses working in critical units at various hospitals in Najran City, Saudi Arabia. A self-administered questionnaire containing three parts was used: demographic characteristics, the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), and the Fatigue Severity Scale (FSS). Results The study revealed that 232 nurses (65.9%) reported poor sleep quality. Regarding fatigue levels, 89 nurses (25.2%) reported severe fatigue and 113 (32.1%) reported moderate fatigue. Notably, caring for war-related injuries exhibited a significant positive correlation (r = 0.62, p = 0.0001). Experience correlated negatively (r = -0.47, p = 0.003) with sleep quality and fatigue scores. Most significantly, involvement in caring for war-related injuries showed a strong positive correlation (r = 0.71, p = 0.00001) with FSS scores. Conclusions Poor sleep quality was significantly widespread among the studied nurses. The results indicated that about one-quarter of the studied nurses reported severe fatigue, which was alarmingly prevalent among nurses. Nurses involved in caring for war-related injuries exhibited a strong positive correlation with both PSQI and FSS scores. Recommendations The authors recommend developing and implementing counseling and stress management programs to address the unique challenges faced by nurses caring for war-related injuries.

Keywords: fatigue; nurses in critical units; saudi arabia; sleep quality; war injuries.

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Conflict of interest statement

Human subjects: Consent was obtained or waived by all participants in this study. Research Ethics Committee of Najran University issued approval 441-440-9722-DS. Animal subjects: All authors have confirmed that this study did not involve animal subjects or tissue. Conflicts of interest: In compliance with the ICMJE uniform disclosure form, all authors declare the following: Payment/services info: All authors have declared that no financial support was received from any organization for the submitted work. Financial relationships: All authors have declared that they have no financial relationships at present or within the previous three years with any organizations that might have an interest in the submitted work. Other relationships: All authors have declared that there are no other relationships or activities that could appear to have influenced the submitted work.

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