• Carlos Aparício and Francesca Panin.
• Professional Doctorate Student, Faculty of Health, Education, Medicine and Social Care, Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge.
• Br J Nurs. 2020 Jul 9; 29 (13): 770-776.

BackgroundSleep is essential for the physical and psychological restoration of inpatients, and lack of sleep results in sleep deprivation and poor sleep quality, with potentially harmful consequences.AimTo summarise sleep-promoting interventions in the Intensive care unit (ICU) and acute ward setting.Method And ResultsSix databases were searched to obtain studies for review and eight studies were selected, appraised, analysed and produced two themes: sleep-disturbing factors and sleep-promoting strategies. Sleep-disturbing factors included environmental factors (such as light and noise), illness-related factors (such as pain, anxiety and discomfort), clinical care and diagnostics. Sleep-promoting strategies included using pharmacological aids (medication) and non-pharmacological aids (reducing noise and disturbances, eye masks, earplugs and educational and behavioural changes).ConclusionThe literature review showed that both ICU and acute ward settings affect patients' sleep and both use similar strategies to improve this. Nevertheless, noise and sleep disturbances remain the most critical sleep-inhibiting factors in both settings. The review recommended future research should focus on behavioural changes among health professionals to reduce noise and improve patients' sleep.

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