Sleep disorders among nurses and other health care workers in Poland during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

Background: The profession of nurses involves exposure to harmful agents. Despite numerous international studies on the occurrence of sleep disorders in nurses, most studies lacked an assessment of the dependence on the occurrence of the situation causing fear and anxiety which is a highly contagious.

Aim: Determining the relationship between the occurrence of sleep disorders and socio-demographic variables of medical personnel during the COVID-19 epidemic.

Design: This is a cross-sectional study conducted online involving 336 health professionals.

Results: Insomnia among staff was determined at the level of Subthreshold insomnia and Clinical insomnia (moderate severity). Suspicion or confirmed COVID-19 had an effect on the occurrence of sleep disorders in the study group of medical personnel.

Conclusion: Taking into account the statistical error of 6%, the sleep disorders concern about 40% of professionally active nurses and midwives in Poland. Worsening of insomnia was observed in people with the possibility of contact with a patient with COVID-19 in the workplace. Insomnia was more common in respondents over 25 years of age. Psychosocial interventions are needed to help healthcare staff better respond to COVID-19 and future epidemics.

Keywords: COVID-19; Health care workers; Insomnia Severity Index; Nurses.