An investigation into primary nursing and its effect upon the nursing attitudes about and administration of prn night sedation

Abstract

This study aims to explore the administration of pm night sedation by qualified night nurses on primary nursing and team nursing wards using a quasi-experimental design. The purpose of the study was to examine the attitudes of qualified nurses (n=20) about sleep problems in hospital and sleep medication and compare these attitudes with behaviour (the administration of pm night sedation) reporting any differences between wards using team and primary nursing philosophies of care. Ten nurses from team nursing wards and 10 nurses from primary nursing wards were interviewed about the amount of night sedation they had administered during one night shift. This was followed by a questionnaire aimed at examining their attitudes about sleep and night sedation using several visual analogue scales. Findings proved to be significant in that results confirmed that team nurses gave out almost three times as much pm night sedation as nurses on primary nursing wards and held attitudes that closely correlated with more of a ‘medical model’ approach such as an emphasis on the advantages of night sedation and the need for its continued use in the clinical area.