AIMS AND OBJECTIVE: To explore registered nurses' perceptions of safe practice in care for patients with an extended length of stay in the emergency department.

BACKGROUND: Extended length of stay and overcrowding in emergency departments are described internationally as one of the most comprehensive challenges of modern emergency care. An emergency department is not designed, equipped or staffed to provide care for prolonged periods of time. This context, combined with a high workload, poses a risk to patient safety, with additional medical errors and an increased number of adverse events. From this perspective, it is important to extend our knowledge and to describe registered nurses' experiences of safe practice.

DESIGN: A qualitative, inductive and descriptive study.

METHODS: Qualitative interview study carried out in five emergency departments. Data were analysed using a qualitative content analysis with a latent approach.

RESULTS: Patient safety meets obstacles in the clinical environment involving experiencing deficiencies regarding patient safety in the clinical setting and the impact of working procedures and routines. Moreover, nurses are challenged in their professional responsibilities involving balancing essential nursing care and actual workload; it is common to experience emotional reactions based on feelings of loss of control.

CONCLUSIONS: From the nurses' perspective, a prolonged stay in the emergency department may lead to negative consequences for both patient safety and care as well as registered nurses' psychosocial experiences. An extended length of stay significantly reduces the level of nursing and caring that registered nurses can perform in the emergency department. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Sleep is crucial for all humans in terms of health, daily functioning and well-being. Previous research has shown that sleep is considered a stressor for patients during hospital care. The general aim of this thesis was to explore and describe, from a nursing perspective, patients’ sleep and how sleep is addressed, promoted and assessed during hospital care.

Methods: To cover the general aim of this thesis, various designs were chosen, and diverse methods of data collection were employed. In Study I, data were collected through qualitative interviews of ten consecutively recruited patients at an acute hospital. In Study II, data were collected through qualitative individual interviews and four focus groups, with a total of twenty-two registered nurses at four acute hospitals in an urban region. Study III was designed as a mixed method study and data were collected through twenty-one qualitative individual interviews as well as from program and course syllabuses and intended learning outcomes at three universities. Data from Studies I-II were analysed by qualitative content analysis with an inductive, latent approach. Data in Study III were analysed by qualitative content analysis with an inductive, manifest approach and collected documents were read word-for-word and scanned for the pre-set word, sleep. Study IV was a cross-sectional study and data were collected through a web-based survey. Acute hospitals in Sweden were subjected to stratified randomized sampling. Registered nurses, head nurses, nursing care developers and local training staff were included in the study. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics, and free-text answers were analysed by a thematic text analysis. Study V was performed as a non-experimental prospective study. Data from a group of twenty-five patients at two hospitals were collected by using the Richards-Campbell Sleep Questionnaire and actigraphy by Vivago® and were analysed with correlation and regression analysis.

Findings: Patients’ sleep during hospital care is affected by several different factors and patients’ sleep is described as an important but undermanaged area. Limited knowledge and education within the area and insufficient support from the organization can be seen as barriers. Study III reveals that several student nurses lack evidence-based knowledge about sleep and sleep-promotion and consider themselves only to be prepared to address and promote sleep to a limited extent. Furthermore, the word, sleep, occurred explicitly only three times in two different learning outcomes at one of three included universities. Study IV shows that the area of sleep is not highlighted in a clinical context; for example, there is an absence of training days and education about sleep, only a few departments actively address patients’ sleep, and the use of sleep-assessment is non-existent. Study V shows a relationship between individual Vivago® graphs and patients’ self-assessed sleep, but a significant correlation for all patients between mean values for the two assessments was only obtained for one of the two included nights.

Conclusions: This thesis indicates that sleep deprivation is common among patients during hospital care. Furthermore, education about patients’ sleep in the investigated nursing programs and in clinical practice seems to be deficient. Assessments with the Richards-Campbell Sleep Questionnaire and measurement with Vivago® capture different dimensions of sleep. In its present form, the RCSQ could have the potential to facilitate nursing actions to promote sleep amongst hospitalized patients in line with person-centred care. Furthermore, it is concluded that patients’ sleep during hospital care is an undermanaged and non-highlighted area. This thesis shows that there are several challenges for nurses, nursing managers and organizations at acute hospitals if better outcomes are to be achieved.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES:

The aim was to describe nurses' experiences of patients' sleep at an emergency hospital and their perceptions of sleep-promoting interventions.

BACKGROUND:

Promotion of patients' sleep during hospital care is an important intervention for the nursing profession. To promote sleep and to initiate sleep-promoting interventions, nurses need basic knowledge about sleep and its physiology. Therefore, it is of importance to explore and expand knowledge about how nurses experience patients' sleep and how they perceive working with it while providing care.

DESIGN:

A qualitative descriptive design was used.

METHODS:

Data were collected from four focus groups and seven individual interviews. A total of twenty-two registered nurses participated. Data were analysed using a qualitative content analysis.

RESULTS:

Nurses expressed a desire and an ambition to work in ways that promote patients' sleep during hospitalisation. Nurses reported that health care services and emergency hospitals were not organised according to patients' perspective and needs. Furthermore, they did not have opportunities to work effectively to promote sleep according to the patients' wishes. Several nurses stated that they did not have sufficient knowledge about sleep and that they did the best they could under prevailing circumstances. Nurses emphasised the importance of sleep for patients and that it was an area that should be given far greater priority.

CONCLUSIONS:

The results indicate that nurses currently have insufficient knowledge about sleep and sleep-promoting interventions. These aspects of nursing is based on personal experience and common sense rather than being evidence based. Furthermore, sleep as a nursing topic needs to be developed and given more focus in order for nurses to be able to deliver high quality care at emergency hospitals.

RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE:

Nurses require more knowledge and education to gain deeper understanding of sleep and to deliver evidence-based, high quality care.

AIM: To explore and describe how patients' sleep is addressed at acute-care hospitals in Sweden with regard to nursing care, management, and the development of knowledge in this area.

BACKGROUND: Sleep is a basic human need and thus important for health and health maintenance. Patients describe sleeping in hospital as a stressor, and research shows that nurses tend to underestimate patients' perceived problems with sleep during hospitalization. How do nursing staff at acute hospitals address patients' sleep and the development of knowledge in this area?.

DESIGN/METHOD: A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted based on data collected through a web survey. Head nurses, registered nurses, nursing care developers, and local training supervisors at 36 randomized acute-care hospitals in Sweden were invited to participate. This study was executed and reported in accordance with SQUIRE 2.0.

RESULTS: The results of the survey (53 responses from 19 wards at 15 acute-care hospitals) showed that no policy documents exist and no current training addresses sleep during hospital stay. All participants agreed that sleep should be considered a nursing topic and that it is important for hospitalized patients.

CONCLUSION: Patients' sleep during hospitalization is undermanaged at acute-care hospitals. Nurses, health care managers, and organizations face challenges if they are to achieve better outcomes.

RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: This study shows that nurses do consider patients' sleep important and addressing sleep as part of nursing care. Future studies in the area should focus on what kinds of support and education are needed in the clinical context. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

BACKGROUND: Sleep is a basic human need and is considered important for maintaining health. It is even more important during illness due to its impact for example on our immune system. Nurses have an important role in identifying sleep deprivation. They are also in a unique position to promote and address sleep among patients. However, it is essential that they are provided with the appropriate knowledge during training.

AIM: To explore and describe nursing students' perceptions of preparedness to adress and support patients' sleep during hospitalization and to apply sleep-promoting interventions in a clinical context. Furthermore, the aim was to investigate if, and how, the topic of sleep is explicitly incorporated in nursing education programs.

DESIGN: A descriptive study based on a mixed method approach.

METHODS: Quantitative and qualitative data were collected from program and course syllabuses and intended learning outcomes from three universities. Twenty-one nursing students from the same universities were interviewed during their final year of education.

RESULTS: The results of both quantitative and qualitative data consistently show that education regarding sleep and patients' sleep is limited and, in some respects, absent in the Bachelor of Science Nursing programs investigated.

CONCLUSION: This study indicates that education about sleep and patients' sleep in the nursing programs studied is insufficient and limited. This gap in knowledge may lead to prospective registered nurses using their own experiences instead of evidence-based knowledge when assessing, supporting and applying sleep-promoting interventions.

Many patients experience sleep disturbances and a reduced quality of sleep while hospitalised. Studies have shown that a person with a disease and/or a bodily injury has an increased need for sleep. Patients' experiences of sleep should govern how sleep disturbances should be managed. It is thus necessary to focus upon and describe patients’ needs and experiences. The aim of this study was to explore and describe patients’ experiences of sleeping in hospital. This study is based on qualitative semi-structured interviews with 10 consecutively included patients. The interviews were conducted between October 2010 and March 2011 and were audio recorded and transcribed verbatim. Collected data were analysed by qualitative content analysis. The participants reported physical and psychological experiences that had affected their sleep. Their experiences were categorised using four themes: bedside manner, physical factors, being involved and integrity. Patients considered that experiencing some degree of control, feeling involved and preserving one’s integrity affect sleep during hospitalisation. Several factors have an impact on patients’ sleep. It is not only physical factors but also psychological factors such as bedside manner and having the opportunity to influence and be involved. The patients’ accounts provide a new perspective and open the door to changes in nursing care regarding patients’ sleep.

AIM AND OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to describe newly-graduated nurses' experiences of introduction processes and leadership within a hospital trainee programme.

BACKGROUND: For many, being a newly-graduated nurse is associated with stress, influenced by the challenge of the transition to independent nurse, coupled with the loss of mentorship due to nurse turnover and rapidly changing demands.

METHODS: A qualitative design with an inductive approach was chosen and four focus groups were convened. A total of nineteen nurses were included in the study. Data were analysed using qualitative content analysis. COREQ was used as EQUATOR checklist.

FINDINGS: The analysis resulted in three themes: Need for an introduction when facing a complex reality, Striving to stand on my own, and The importance of having an accessible and multi-skilled manager. The transition is a complex, dynamic and demanding process.

CONCLUSIONS: The orientation process from student to becoming an independent nurse is a challenging period. A flexible manager and a readily accessible leadership facilitate the newly-graduated nurse's striving to become an independent nurse. The study demonstrates that a trainee programme and support are essential in this process. There are indications that today's newly-graduated nurses have high expectations of coaching from the manager during the orientation process.

RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: The hospital setting and its organisation are rapidly changing in relation to the increasing number of patients and their health status. In addition, there is a need for newly-graduated nurses to secure regrowth, to fill the ranks of experienced nurses leaving the field. Newly-graduated nurses increasingly perceive a gap between their training and clinical realities, thus necessitating changes in tutoring and their introduction to the work. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.