UPEI Bachelor of Science in Nursing students Amelia Jenkins, Abby Kinch, Teasha McPhee, and Niloufar Sedighpoor recently completed a survey of students living in residence as part of their fall semester 2024 Population Health course. They discovered a high percentage of surveyed students are not sleeping well for a variety of reasons, and they're using the survey findings to create sleep-related wellness resources for all UPEI students.

Tell me a little about the population health course you’re taking – what kinds of concepts are you learning?

Nilou: "In the Population Health course I'm taking, we're exploring concepts that focus on the health of populations rather than individuals. The course delves into identifying and addressing health determinants such as socio-economic factors, environmental influences, and access to healthcare. We're learning about various health promotion strategies and intervention models, such as the Generalized Model of Program Planning, which helps us design and evaluate health initiatives. There's also a strong emphasis on using data to assess community health needs, developing targeted interventions, and working collaboratively with stakeholders to improve health outcomes. The course integrates theory with practical application, allowing us to develop skills for creating and implementing population health projects."

How did you come up with the project idea?

Teasha: "The idea for the sleep hygiene project actually came from our community agency liaison, Kelton Thomason, who presented it as an option. When we learned more about it, we all immediately saw how relevant and important it was, especially for residence students. University life can be demanding, and sleep often gets pushed aside with all the new responsibilities and social activities that come with living on campus. We felt this project would be a meaningful way to address an area that often goes unaddressed."

"Our residence life team is currently involved in a sleep hygiene project for UPEI residence students. Focusing on sleep hygiene and the student's needs, we're addressing an overlooked factor affecting students' academic performance, mental health, and physical well-being. Teaching residence students about healthy sleep habits empowers them to improve their academics, reduce stress, and support better health outcomes in the long term."

How did you create the project methodology, i.e., how did you design the work you would do?

Abby: "We decided that we needed to know how students felt about their sleep before we went forward with this project. As students, we know that sleep hygiene is a big issue, but we need some evidence before starting. We decided to start with a survey to send out to the students living in residence. The survey included questions regarding age, year of schooling, how many roommates, their sleep schedule now, how tired they are feeling during the day, medicine aids, drugs and alcohol use, and hours slept at night. We wanted to know their living situation, whether they share a bedroom, use any sleep aids, and how they are doing academically. We tried to get the best turnout, so we offered a chance to win a prize when they filled out the survey. In the survey, we also added a question about an information session. We wanted to know if they would like to learn more about sleep hygiene. We used that information to decide how we would give our information session. We saw that the students were interested in a trivia night and an online resource to help them sleep hygiene. That is why we used those two methodologies to get our research out there to students."
 

What did you discover from survey respondents? Did it match your expectations?

Amelia: "Our sleep survey questionnaire had about 20 questions so we were able to learn a lot about students’ sleep patterns and what affects their sleep. We discovered that a lot of students aren’t getting enough sleep and 84.2% of respondents indicated that this was due to personal or academic stress that either keeps them up at night or wakes them up in the morning. Also, of those respondents 84.9% reported feeling tired or drowsy during the day which I think is definitely more than we expected."

Why is this kind of work important for Nursing students?

Teasha: "Many think of nursing as primarily bedside care, which includes administering IVs, drawing blood, and performing other clinical tasks. While those skills are important, nursing also promotes preventive care measures to support overall community health and well-being. In nursing school, we learn about population health, which helps us see the impact of broader health initiatives in the community. Our residence life team is currently involved in a sleep hygiene project for UPEI residence students. Focusing on sleep hygiene and the student's needs, we're addressing an overlooked factor affecting students' academic performance, mental health, and physical well-being. Teaching residence students about healthy sleep habits empowers them to improve their academics, reduce stress, and support better health outcomes in the long term. This project is important because it shows that nursing isn't only about treating patients when they're unwell; it's also about helping people make choices that keep them healthier overall."

Is there anything else about the project the UPEI community would want to know?

Teasha: "One great aspect of our sleep hygiene project is that it’s not just limited to residence students; it’s designed to benefit the entire UPEI population including students and staff. The residence life team and I are currently collaborating with the UPEI IT and marketing team to create a new webpage that will be accessible to all UPEI students, allowing them to evaluate their sleep hygiene and access resources to improve their sleep quality. This page will provide guidance on creating better sleep routines and include easy tips tailored to the demands of campus life."