The effect of enhancing environmental factors on the quality of patients' sleep in a cardiac surgical intensive care unit

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of enhancing environmental factors on the duration and quality of sleep among patients in a cardiovascular surgery intensive care unit (CSICU). This quasi-experimental study was conducted upon 100 patients. The experimental group received nursing interventions to control the environmental factors that negatively affect nocturnal sleep. Data also were collected using a form to assess the environmental factors and the Richards-Campbell Sleep Questionnaire in the morning of the second day after the operation. The difference between the groups was statistically significant in favor of the experimental group for eight of the environmental factors. Compared with that in the control group, the duration of sleep was longer (experimental, 6.30 h; control, 3.98 h) and the quality of sleep was higher (experimental, 66.57 units; control, 44.43 units) in the experimental group. We conclude that nursing interventions should be used to control the environmental factors that negatively affect nocturnal sleep in CSICUs.