Title

Sleep Quality Effects of Non-Pharmacological Protocol in Community Based Geriatric Population

Date of Award

2017

Document Type

Capstone

Degree Name

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)

Committee Chair

Sharon Starr

Abstract

Current research suggests that non-pharmacological interventions, specifically, changes made to the environment, could potentially increase the sleep quality of geriatric patients who reside in community dwellings. This quality improvement project aimed to determine if a non-pharmacological sleep hygiene protocol implemented in a geriatric community dwelling would enhance the environment resulting in improved sleep quality. The targeted population was 55 and older geriatric male patients residing in a community living center in a mid-Atlantic VA facility. The sample size represented in the project was 30 male veterans. Subjective and objective data was collected prior to implementation and then post-implementation at 14 and then at 30-day intervals to determine if improvements in sleep quality were noted. The non-pharmacological sleep hygiene protocol was implemented over a 14-day period. The subjective data was collected using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) and then objective data was collected using an established database on the unit. Staff questionnaires were also used as part of the data collection process. Responses from staff indicated that the non- pharmacological sleep hygiene protocol was not difficult to implement, which did help with compliance and overall participation from the staff. Although there was a 10% reduction in mean hours slept from baseline to the 14-day post-implementation point, there was a 5% increase in mean hours slept from baseline to the 30-day post- implementation period. Keywords: geriatric sleep cycles, elderly sleep disturbances, long-term care settings and sleep, geriatric insomnia, geriatric/elderly sleep treatments, geriatric sleep assessment, sleep environment, and light therapy.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

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