Kontakt 2023, 25(1):3-9 | DOI: 10.32725/kont.2023.005

The effect of insomnia and shift working on psychological well-being among general public hospital nursesNursing - Original article

Deldar Morad Abdulah^{1, *}, Sherzad Khudeida Suleman^{2, 3}

¹ University of Duhok, College of Nursing, Community and Maternity Health Nursing Unit, Duhok, Iraqi Kurdistan

² Uppsala University, Department of Women's and Children's Health, Uppsala University, Sweden

³ University of Duhok, College of Nursing, Psychiatric and Pediatric Nursing Unit, Duhok, Iraqi Kurdistan

Introduction: There are few studies on the association between insomnia and categories of psychological well-being among nurses in clinical settings. Therefore, in this study, we aimed to explore the effect of insomnia and shift working on psychological well-being among nurses in public hospitals.

Methods: A total of 107 nurses (20-44 years old) were included using a non-random technique. The nurses were selected from four public hospitals in Iraqi Kurdistan in 2019.

Results: The mean age of the nurses was 29.94 (20-44 years). They had diploma (48.6%) and bachelor's degrees (51.4%), worked morning (36.4%), evening (19.6%), and night shifts (14.0%), and some (29.9%) were shift rotators. Most nurses worked in the public sector (56.1%) or both sectors (43.9%). The mean sleep score of the nurses was 10.68 out of a total of 24. The prevalence of insomnia among nurses was 80.4%. The mean value of general psychological well-being was 26.64 out of a total 36. Working morning shifts and having a high level of insomnia were predictors of worse psychological well-being. Nurses who worked in the morning or as shift rotators were more likely to feel unable to overcome difficulties. They were also less likely to enjoy normal day-to-day activities, less likely to feel reasonably happy, and more likely to lose confidence in their lives. The level of facing up to one's problems increased according to the severity of insomnia.

Conclusions: The study showed that nurses with insomnia had worse psychological well-being than nurses without insomnia in public hospitals.

Keywords: Insomnia; Nurse; Psychological well-being; Sleep

Conflicts of interest:

The authors have no conflict of interests to declare.

Received: September 14, 2022; Revised: October 18, 2022; Accepted: February 3, 2023; Prepublished online: February 28, 2023; Published: March 30, 2023  Show citation