Sleep Management within Skilled Nursing Facilities: A Practice Survey

Abstract

A cross-sectional descriptive survey of 105 occupational therapy practitioners examined the practice patterns in sleep management within skilled nursing facilities. All participants viewed sleep as essential to address in their settings, since clients frequently reported inadequate sleep, daytime sleepiness, difficulty staying asleep, and situational interruption. Majority of the practitioners reported not screening, assessing, treating, or documenting sleep issues and lack the use of standardized assessments and evidence-based interventions for sleep. Results suggest that practitioners need more training, education, and advocacy skills to promote the role of occupational therapy in addressing sleep management in skilled nursing facilities.

Keywords:

• Occupational therapy practitioners
• skilled nursing facilities
• sleep assessment
• sleep management

Acknowledgements

We appreciate the support of occupational therapy practitioners who participated in the survey. Special thanks to the content and survey experts for the careful review and suggestions.

Declaration of Interest

This work was completed in partial fulfillment of the Doctor of Occupational Therapy degree for the primary author, and part of this work was presented at The John Hopkins Hospital to educate clinicians. The authors report no conflicts of interest.