It is thought that transferring low-cost and easily applicable interventions that can be used to control environmental stressors such as noise and light that negatively affect sleep quality, especially in intensive care environments, into clinical practice will improve the quality of nursing care. It is recommended that complementary interventions that can be used to improve such sleep quality should be tested and supported by new studies. In this study, it was aimed to determine the effect of eye mask on sleep quality in patients admitted to the surgical intensive care unit after abdominal surgery.
Sleep is one of the basic needs to maintain and protect health and is a physiological state that occurs as a result of loss of consciousness, slowing of muscle activities, and decrease in neural activity for a certain period of time. Sleep quality is adversely affected as a result of physiological or psychological factors occurring in the perioperative period or disruptions in normal sleep phases due to environmental factors such as light and noise in the intensive care environment. Especially in surgical intensive care units (SICU), it is one of the units where deterioration in the sleep quality of patients is frequently experienced. It is reported that improving sleep quality in intensive care units will support the recovery processes of patients in the clinical environment and shorten the duration of hospital stay. Non-pharmacological methods are frequently used in patients hospitalised in the intensive care unit. In the literature, there are research results on the positive effects of using eye patch and earplugs, listening to audio books, massage and aromatherapy, acupressure, music therapy, white noise application, reflexology massage and foot bath interventions on sleep quality. Sleep is an important component of nursing management in surgical intensive care units and is one of the basic needs of patients. Surgical nurses who provide nursing care here should plan, implement and evaluate environmental arrangements and non-pharmacological interventions to improve the sleep quality of patients. Especially interventions such as eye mask can be used to control the environmental factor that negatively affects sleep quality in surgical intensive care units. In systematic reviews and meta-analyses on the method of sleep in intensive care unit patients, it is reported that the use of eye mask improves sleep quality, but more studies are needed to increase the quality of evidence. It is thought that transferring low-cost and easily applicable interventions that can be used to control environmental stressors such as noise and light that negatively affect sleep quality, especially in intensive care environments, into clinical practice will improve the quality of nursing care.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
NON_RANDOMIZED
Purpose
SUPPORTIVE_CARE
Masking
SINGLE
Enrollment
64
The intervention group patients were fitted with an eye mask designed by the researcher by placing a black fabric in the size of the mask between two three-layer surgical masks with Asfor brand soft elastic earphones and stapling the edges. The designed eye mask was cut with scissors according to the shape of the nose so that the mask would fit the eye exactly and prevent the light from entering the eye. A separate mask was used for each patient in the intervention group. Patients who were admitted to the NICU after surgery were evaluated for agitation-pain-delirium at 23:00 on postoperative days 0, 1, and 2, were told to wear their eye masks after the scale application, and the patients were allowed to sleep at 23:00 at the latest. Patients were allowed to remove the eye patch for short periods of time (10 minutes or less at a time) and then put it back on when uncomfortable and when necessary.
Aydın Adnan Menderes University
Aydin, Zafer Mahallesi, Turkey (Türkiye)
Sleep status
This form was developed by the researcher using the literature on the subject. The form was filled in based on the self-report of the patients. In order to determine the sleep status of the patients, the form included 5 statements: 'I feel tired and sleepy during the day despite sleeping for a sufficient amount of time', 'I have difficulty falling asleep 2-3 nights a week', 'I have to constantly move my legs in bed', 'I have to go to the toilet at least once during the night', 'I wake up tired and with a headache in the morning'.
Time frame: On the 3rd postoperative day
Richmond Agitation Sedation Scale (RASS) Score
It is a ten-level scale developed by Cook and Palma (1989) in which eye contact, which is not present in other scales, is evaluated following the verbal stimulus. In the scale, a score of '0' indicates the ideal level where the patient is awake and calm, while values up to '+4' reflect increasing agitation and values up to '-5' reflect increasing sedation level. As the scale score increases, it is interpreted as the agitation status of the patients worsens.
Time frame: Postoperative 1st, 2nd and 3rd days
Richard-Campbell Sleep Scale (RCS) Score
Richard-Campbell Sleep Scale (RCS): In 1987, the Turkish validity and reliability study of the scale was conducted by Richards in 2015 by Özlü and Özer. The scale consists of 6 items evaluating sleep quality, depth of sleep at night, frequency of awakening, ambient sound level, time of staying awake and time to fall asleep. Each item is evaluated on a scale ranging from 0 to 100. A score between '0-25' indicates very poor sleep and a score between '76-100' indicates very good sleep. As the scale score increases, patients' It is interpreted that sleep quality has increased.
Time frame: Postoperative 1st, 2nd and 3rd days
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