Effect of Application of an Alternate Nostril Breathing Exercise on Fatigue and Quality of Sleep Pattern among Nursing Students

Abstract

Background: The higher the energy level, the more efficient body. The more efficient body, the better feel and the more will use talent to produce outstanding results. Breathing exercise is one of the yogic techniques that can produce different physiological responses in healthy individuals. Aim: determine the effect of the application of an alternate nostril breathing exercise on fatigue and sleep quality pattern among nursing students enrolled in the Faculty of Nursing, Alexandria University, Egypt. Design: A quasi-experimental design was used to conduct this study. Subjects: A simple random sample of 100 volunteers of first-year nursing students enrolled in the winter semester of 2019 (males and females). Tools: Two tools were used to collect the necessary data for the present study. The tool I: Alternate nostril breathing assessment and tool II: Iowa Fatigue Scale. Results: indicated that regular practice of alternate nostril breathing increases parasympathetic activity. Participants experienced decrease levels of fatigue and improving the quality of sleep pattern. The majority of participants agreed that work drains their energy every day, that they never have enough time between classes to recover their energy, and that they dread waking up to another day of work. Conclusion: Implementation of alternate nostril breathing exercises helped in decreasing nursing students' fatigue levels before, during, and after their practice. Also, it improved the quality of sleep patterns. Recommendations: Apply the proposed protocol of alternate nostril breathing techniques. The developed colored illustrated booklet regarding the alternate nostril breathing has to be distributed to the newly enrolled nursing students each year. As well as fatigue in nursing students needs further study including the application of the alternate nostril breathing exercises that address chronic and acute fatigue and promote recovery.