Sleep, Stress Management, and Internet use among Nursing Students in Saudi Arabia

Background: Good sleep quality and quantity are crucial for ensuring a successful academic life for university students. Stress is a part of university students’ academic life. Internet addiction is particularly a problem among young adults and undergraduate students.

Method: The study explored sleep patterns, stress management, and Internet use in 114 nursing students from a nursing college in Saudi Arabia. A self-administered questionnaire collected data on sociodemographic characteristics, sleep patterns, stress management, and Internet use. Data were collected over two weeks at the beginning of the spring semester in 2018.

Results: Results showed that only 16.3% of the students slept for ≥8 hours daily. The main cause of students’ stress was exams (89.4%), and 38.5% used the Internet for >6 hours daily.

Conclusions: Further studies are recommended to assess the correlation of university students’ sleep patterns with academic performance, effects of different coping strategies to alleviate stress, and Internet addiction.