Quality of Sleep and Cognitive Failure of Critical Ward and General Ward Nurses

The nursing role is rapidly evolving as nurses are tasked with an even wider range of healthcare responsibilities. With an increase in complexity and demand for better healthcare system, the role of nurses has become more challenging. A poor quality of sleep and high risk of cognitive failure among nurses can have an impact on their day to day functioning which in turn can pose a threat, especially on the patients of critical wards as compared to other wards, because they require complex assessment and high risk treatments. Moreover, nurses are often scheduled to do rotating shifts (i.e., day, evening, night) and also have to work overtime to provide quality care to their patients around the clock. Abrupt deviations from normal timing of work often disrupt one's internal biological clock. The present study aims to trace and compare the dimensions of quality of sleep and assess the tendency of cognitive failure among nurses of critical and general ward of private hospitals with age range of 21 to 31 yrs. In order to collect data, a quantitative and survey research was conducted. The results revealed that the critical ward nurses tend to exhibit more cognitive failure and poor quality of sleep, which is more related to 'sleep duration' and 'sleep latency'. Also a significant difference has been observed between the nurses of two wards regarding mental health status and quality of sleep. The study can be important for the administrative staffs of private hospitals, so that they can recommend and design effective training modules for nurses and their duties accordingly.