Caffeine Consumption Habits, Sleep Quality, Sleep Quantity, and Perceived Stress of Undergraduate Nursing Students.

BACKGROUND: Consumption of energy drinks is prevalent among college students and has increased over the last decade. There is inadequate research about the energy drink consumption habits of prelicensure nursing students. PURPOSE: This study determined if there were differences in sleep quality, sleep quantity, and perceived stress levels in nursing students who consume energy drinks compared with those who consume other sources of caffeine and those who abstain. METHODS: A comparative study design was used. Participants (n = 272) from universities in 2 regions of the United States answered questions about sleep, perceived stress, caffeine, and energy drink consumption. RESULTS: Nursing students at both universities who consumed energy drinks reported poorer sleep quality, fewer sleep hours, and higher levels of perceived stress than caffeine-only consumers and non-caffeine consumers. CONCLUSIONS: Prelicensure nursing students may be unaware of the relationships among energy drink consumption, sleep quality, sleep quantity, and perceived stress levels.

Nurses Consuming Energy Drinks Report Poorer Sleep and Higher Stress.

The energy drink consumption habits of nurses working in clinical settings is unknown. Utilizing a descriptive-comparison design, researchers examined the caffeine and energy drink habits of clinical nurses and relationships or differences that existed with their sleep quantity, sleep quality, and perceived stress levels. Data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Significant relationships existed between energy drink consumption and sleep quality, sleep quantity, and perceived stress levels. Nurses who consumed energy drinks had poorer sleep quality and fewer sleep hours compared with caffeine-only consumers and noncaffeine consumers. Nurses who consumed energy drinks also had increased levels of perceived stress than noncaffeine consumers. Educating nurses regarding energy drink ingredients and relationships that exist between energy drink consumption, sleep, and perceived stress could be beneficial. Future studies are needed to examine motivational factors related to energy drink consumption as well as any health or safety implications that might be associated.

Energy: A concept analysis from a nursing perspective.

The term "energy" is common in day-to-day language and denotes a myriad of different meanings depending on context. Energy is one of the most significant concepts for nearly all of the sciences including nursing, and yet it continues to be ambiguously defined. This article utilizes a modified version of Walker and Avant's framework for concept analysis (2011) to identify the characteristics, attributes, and antecedents of the concept of energy and provides a practical and theoretical application to nursing. The defining attributes discussed are power, productivity, effort, and activity. Model and contrary cases are presented to better provide a representation of the concept of energy. Empirical referents or a proper measurement or assessment of energy are nonspecific and poorly defined. Opportunities for future research related to the concept of energy in nursing include implementation of new terminology or theory development.