Quality of sleep and well-being of health workers in Najran, Saudi Arabia

BACKGROUND: Health care involves taking care of other peoples' lives. Professionals in the field of health care are expected to be at their best all the time because mistakes or errors could be costly and sometimes irreversible. AIM: This study assessed the quality of sleep and well-being of health workers in Najran city, Saudi Arabia. MATERIALS AND METHODS: It was a cross-sectional study done among health workers from different hospitals within the kingdom of Najran, Saudi Arabia. The subjects were administered questionnaire that contained sections on demographic and clinical characteristics, sleep quality, and section relating to well-being. RESULTS: One hundred and twenty-three health workers comprising 29 (23.6%) males and 94 (76.4%) females participated in this study. The majority of the workers 74 (60.2%) were nurses; a quarter were doctors while the remaining 13.6% accounted for other categories of health workers such as the pharmacist and laboratory technicians. Fifty-two (42.3%) of the workers were poor sleepers. Significantly (χ(2) = 23.98, P = 0.000), majority of the subjects that were poor sleepers (84.6%) compared with the 42.3% of the good sleepers rated the last 12 months of their profession as a bit stressful or quite a bit stressful. Similarly, 46.2% of the workers that were poor sleepers significantly (χ(2) = 24.69, P = 0.000) rated their ability to handle unexpected and difficult problems in their life as fair or poor compared with 14.1% of the good sleepers CONCLUSION: Health workers expressed some level of stress in their professional life, and a good proportion of the subjects were poor sleepers. There is, therefore, the need to establish a program within the health-care organization to address social, physical, and psychological well-being at work.