Effectiveness of the 'sleep enhancement' nursing intervention in hospitalized mental health patients.

Aim: To determine the effectiveness of the 'sleep enhancement' nursing intervention (Nursing Interventions Classification) in patients hospitalized with mental illness and having a disturbed sleep pattern and to identify the possible effect of psycho-active medications on this disturbed sleep pattern.

Design: A quasi-experimental pretest-posttest type study without control group.

Method: The study was conducted in all patients admitted to the mental health inpatient unit of University Hospital of Spain from 1 March 2007-31 May 2008.