Graduation Date

Winter 12-19-2025

Submission Type

Dissertation/Thesis

Degree Name

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)

Department

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Program

School

School of Nursing

Faculty Mentor

Mayra Toney

Committee Member

Amy Snyder

Keywords

Sleep, Sleep Menu, patient perceived sleep quality, sleep disruptions, sleep bundle, patient-centered sleep protocol

Abstract

Sleep disruptions among hospitalized patients can negatively impact healing, recovery, and patient satisfaction. Hospital noise remains a persistent barrier to restful sleep, yet previous hospital-based noise reduction strategies have shown limited sustained success. This quality improvement project aimed to enhance patient-perceived sleep quality by implementing a patient-centered Sleep Menu offering patients earplugs or sound machines. A pre-post design was employed, using the Richard-Campbell Sleep Questionnaire (RCSQ) to assess patients' sleep quality before and after the Sleep Menu intervention. Sixty patients were approached; 25 chose earplugs, and 7 selected the sound machine. Despite environmental decibel levels remaining above the WHO recommendations as monitored daily with a decibel meter, nearly half of the patients approached declined participation, citing non-noise-related factors such as pain. Through a paired t-test analysis, patients who used earplugs demonstrated a statistically significant improvement in sleep scores and a 25-point mean reduction in perceived noise levels. Users of the sound machines observed more modest improvements, and the results were not statistically significant, with a p-value greater than 0.05. Despite this, clinical evaluation suggests that Sleep Menus are effective and support the use of these simple, cost-effective tools to enhance patient rest. Future initiatives should explore integrating broader comfort strategies and implementing the Sleep Menu over longer periods across diverse hospital settings.

Language

English

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Included in

Nursing Commons

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