Evaluation of sleep quality and perceived stress of nursing students who are engaged in clinical practice based on their sleeping habits

Abstract

Objectives: Sleep quality and perceived stress of nursing students affects both their personal health and nursing care. The aim of this study is to identify nursing students' sleep quality and perceived stress and the sleeping habits affecting them. Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out with 446 nursing students. The data were collected through a questionnaire involving some questions aiming to identify sleeping habits and perceived stress, Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) and Perceived Stress Scale for Nursing Students (PSSNS). Results: The average score of PSQI was 7.71 ± 3.27 while scale of PSSNS was 63.50 ± 26.65. According to PSSNS, female students perceived stress level more than males (p = 0.005). However, there was no statistically significant difference between female students and male students in terms of total PSQI scores (p = 0.113). Students with poor sleeping quality showed some signs of sleep deprivation during the day. There was a weak relationship between sleeping quality and perceived stress (p = 0.01). Nevertheless, delaying sleep due to academic workload affects students' perceived stress. Conclusions: Nursing students should be encouraged to develop healthy sleeping habits and skills to deal with stress.