Insomnia Severity Among Anesthesia Nurses in a Resource-Limited Province of Southwest China: A Cross-Sectional Study

Background: Anesthesia nurses are exposed to sustained occupational stress, shift work, and high clinical demands, which may increase the risk of sleep disturbance. However, limited evidence has specifically examined insomnia severity and its psychological correlates within this specialty, particularly in resource-constrained regions of China. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was held between December 2025 and January 2026 among 444 anesthesia nurses in Guizhou Province, China. Participants completed validated instruments assessing sleep-related worry, self-regulatory fatigue, perceived stress, insomnia severity (Athens Insomnia Scale), and perceived social support. Descriptive statistics, independent-samples tests, Pearson correlation analysis, and stepwise multiple linear regression were performed. Results: A substantial proportion of participants reported clinically significant insomnia symptoms. Insomnia severity was positively correlated with sleep-related worry (r = 0.794), self-regulatory fatigue (r = 0.728), and perceived stress (r = 0.903) (all P < 0.001), and negatively correlated with perceived social support (r = − 0.303, P < 0.001). In multiple regression analysis, sleep-related worry (β = 0.644, P < 0.001), self-regulatory fatigue (β = 0.386, P < 0.001), and perceived stress (β = 0.338, P < 0.001) were significant positive predictors of insomnia severity, whereas perceived social support was a significant negative predictor (β = −0.222, P < 0.001). The final model explained 51.1% of the variance. Conclusions: Insomnia severity is highly prevalent among anesthesia nurses and is strongly associated with cognitive worry, stress perception, and self-regulatory fatigue. Enhancing organizational support and implementing stress-targeted interventions may contribute to the improvement of sleep health in this population. Longitudinal studies are taken to clarify causal pathways. Trial registration Not applicable.