Nursing Theoretical Foundations of Practice essays

Nursing Theoretical Foundations of Practice essays Sleep deprivation among patients in ICU is a prominent problem in health care today. This could lead to further physiological and psychological problems such as delirium, in extreme cases. The cause of this is the stress associated with the critical conditions necessitating admission to the intensive care unit (Roberts, 2000). A further problem associated with this is that health care workers at times misdiagnose and misperceive the condition as less dangerous than is in fact the case. It is therefore clear that the problem of sleep deprivation needs to be analyzed for its nature and its causes. There is a lack of such analysis, mainly as a result of advanced technology taking priority over the functionality of the patients themselves (Johnson 2000). The human element is thus neglected in favor of treating the illness as an isolated problem (Roberts, 2000). Nursing models such as those created by Neuman, Roy and Johnson can be useful in bringing back the concept of the whole person to ICU patients experience sleep disruptions on average about every 20 minutes during a 24-hour day (Johnson, 2000). These disruptions come in the form of observations to ensure the physical stability of the patient. Another factor is the isolation from the natural day-night cycle as a result of ICUs constructed without any windows. If lights are always on at a consistent intensity, this furthermore disrupts the sleeping pattern and aggravates the inability of patients to reach the deepest stage of sleep. These factors lead to severe sleep deprivation, which may complicate to Stress-related sleep deprivation in the ICU can affect memory, concept formation, reasoning and executive function (Johnson, 2000). The fear already present as a result of the need for intensive care results in sleep deprivation, which aggravates disorientation, agitation, and possibly delirium. In order to...