Nursing Students’ Sleep and Chronotype: A Comparison Across Majors

INTRODUCTION: Nursing students are at risk for inadequate sleep, contributing to compromised health, academic performance, clinical errors, and leaving nursing programs. PROBLEM: Poor sleep may be specific to nursing students or reflect the challenges of college life. No published study has compared the sleep and chronotype of nursing students to those of other majors. METHOD: Undergraduate students completed the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index from 2013 to 2025, resulting in 4915 surveys, including 1302 (26%) by nursing students. RESULTS: Thirteen consecutive annual assessments revealed nursing students have less sleep, poorer sleep quality, more fatigue, less daytime enthusiasm, and earlier awakening than other majors. DISCUSSION: Nursing students' inadequate sleep appears attributable to factors beyond individual characteristics or college life and likely reflects program challenges, such as academic loads, high-stakes exams, and disruptive schedules. To address fundamental barriers for healthy nursing students' sleep, consideration appears warranted to change program structures and challenges.