Using Non-Pharmacological Interventions to Promote Sleep in the Intensive Care Unit

When patients are in critical condition in the ICU, sleep is not prioritized among all of the patients’ other issues. The lack of sleep may result in a decreased immune system and neurocognitive changes producing delirium, potentially increasing the length of stay, and increasing morbidity, especially in older adults and those who have been in the ICU for a long period of time. The purpose of this review of literature is to examine evidence which studied the effectiveness of non-pharmacological interventions on sleep quality of patients in the ICU. Among the evidence for this project, it was found that the most common causes of sleep disruption were due to the environment. Interventions that were implemented and studied included the use of eye masks and earplugs, noise and light reduction bundles, and unit-wide sleep protocol. It was found that these interventions are effective in improving sleep quality. It will be recommended that ICU’s implement these interventions to improve sleep quality in order to reduce delirium among patients. Key words: Sleep, delirium, ICU, sleep protocol, non-pharmacological, morbidit