Abstract
OBJECTIVE: to analyze the effect of an educational intervention on the sleep hygiene habits and sleep quality of stricto sensu graduate nursing students. METHOD: a quasi-experimental, before-and-after study with students from a graduate nursing program was conducted. A socio-occupational questionnaire, lifestyle habits questionnaire, sleep habits questionnaire, a questionnaire to assess the ease or difficulty of implementing the strategies, the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index and the Sleep Hygiene Index were used. The intervention consisted of an online session with guidance on sleep hygiene habits, a handout and video with the content were presented and text messages to reinforce the guidance. The McNemar test was used for pre- and post-intervention comparisons with a 5% significance level (p<0.05). RESULTS: a total of 40 graduate students participated in the study. Sleep hygiene improved after the intervention (p=0.012). Participants increased their sleep hours (p=0.049), perceived improvement in sleep (p=0.016), acquired sleep hygiene habits (p<0.001) and there was a reduction in the number of students who woke up feeling tired (p=0.039). CONCLUSION: the intervention improved sleep hygiene and the subjective perception of sleep among postgraduate students.