Promoting Change in Vital Sign Assessment at Night to Impact Patient Perception of Sleep Quality in Hospitalized Patients with a Cardiac History Review of Literature

The aim of this doctoral of nursing (DNP) project was conduct a project to evaluate how decreasing the number of times vital signs are taken during the night impacts sleep perception in hospitalized patients. The analysis of literature shows that vital sign assessment every four hours has minimal evidence to support use in healthcare. Existing methods of monitoring are supported by institutional protocol and fail to take into consideration potential negative health outcomes such as blood pressure changes, impaired immune system function, increased inflammation, and delirium. Modified early warning scores (MEWS) are utilized in various healthcare settings and promote communication between healthcare providers to decrease the risk of clinical deterioration. The Modified Overnight Vital Sign Assessment Questionnaire gives a detailed depiction of sleep disruption and the subsequent impact on quality of sleep during a hospital stay. The results of this project indicate decreased monitoring overnight for low-risk patients improves patient perception of sleep quality during a hospital stay