Influence of Sleep on Academic Performance among Nursing students-Najran University; KSA

Abstract

Background and objective: Nursing students are exposed to high level of pressure due to their academic responsibilities beside other stressors. They may not be able to sleep adequately due to many assignments, examinations and other personal activities. Thus, they are at increased risk for sleep disorders. The main objective of the current study was to identify the association between sleeping patterns and the students' academic performance. Methodology: By adopting a convenience sampling technique, 60 female nursing students had been invited to participate in this study. A close-ended questionnaire was utilized for collecting the data beside obtaining the academic score (GPA) from the students' records. Results: The mean age ± standard deviation (SD) was 22.4 ± 3.1 years. Majority of students 46 (76.7%) their ages above 21 years old and half of them their GPA range between 2.0 – 3.49. 85% of the studied subjects use to sleep about four to six hours per day although 20% of them don't use to have day nap. Interestingly, 73.3% of them are currently living with their families which is correlated significantly with their GPA (P value = 0.05). Additionally, Day nap and duration of sleep hours per day were found to be statistically significant with their GPA (P value < 0.05) respectively. On the other hand, the body mass index was not statistically significant with their GPA (P value > 0.05). Conclusion & Discussion: Sleepiness and low sleep quantity were prevalent among nursing students which was affecting their academic performance and daytime functioning. Thus students with symptoms of sleep disorders are more likely to obtain poor grades in classes and accordingly poor academic achievement. So there should be suitable programs to help students to identify the physical as well as psychological symptoms as early as possible and therefore, providing adequate guidance to improve their academic as well as physical performance. Additionally, any student that performs poorly in academics should be monitored and referred to the concerned professional for help.