Improving sleep health management in primary care: A potential role for community nurses?

Abstract

Aims To explore community nurses sleep health practices and their perspectives on improving sleep health care provision. Design An exploratory study utilizing the qualitative description methodology. Methods Semi‐structured interviews were conducted with community nurses from May 2019 – October 2021. Interviews were audio‐recorded, transcribed, and subjected to an inductive thematic analysis using a constructivist–interpretive paradigm. Results Twenty‐three Australian community nurses were interviewed. Participants frequently encountered sleep disturbances/disorders in their patients. Data analysis yielded three main themes: (1) Sleep health in the community serviced, (2) sleep health awareness and management, and (3) community nurses' A to Z of improving sleep health. The most common sleep disorder presentations were insomnia and sleep apnea. Although most community sleep apnea cases were appropriately managed, insomnia was often mismanaged. Participants described their sleep health knowledge as deficient, with the majority advocating for increased sleep‐related education tailored to their profession. Other important factors needed for improving sleep health provision were standardized patient treatment/referral pathways, increased interprofessional collaboration, and sufficient time for patient consults. Conclusion Community nurses service a patient population that requires increased sleep health care. However, they are currently underequipped to do so, leading to suboptimal treatment provision. Providing community nurses with the appropriate resources, such as increased sleep‐related education and standardized treatment frameworks, could enable them to better manage sleep disturbance/disorder presentations, such as insomnia. Impact Little is known about how community nurses care for patients with sleep disturbance/sleep disorders. This study found that contemporary sleep health care was lacking due to knowledge deficits, competing challenges, and a need for standardized care pathways. These findings can inform the development of targeted education/training and standardized guidelines for community nurses providing sleep health care to patients as well as the design of future practice models of care provision. Patient or Public Contribution Previous research by authors has involved extensive engagement with patients and health professionals, such as community pharmacists, general practitioners, and naturopaths who play a role in sleep health in the primary health care sector. These previous research projects built a significant understanding of the patient and health practitioner experience and have provided the background to the concept and design of this study.

Promoting healthy sleep in 0-2-year-old infants: a study protocol for the development and mixed method evaluation of a sleep health program tailored to Dutch youth healthcare regions

“…Despite this, several studies indicate that the current screening, prevention and treatment of infant sleep problems in YHC is suboptimal [ 27 , 34 , 41 , 42 ]. During their education, YHC professionals, usually comprising of physicians and nurses, often lack training on the management of infant sleep problems, leading to limited knowledge and self-efficacy on how to adequately help parents with these problems [ 27 , 41 – 43 ]. Furthermore, professionals often experience time constraints and competing demands, whilst parents have a need for more reliable sleep information and support [ 27 , 30 , 35 , 43 ].…”