The numbers of the elderly people and patients have recently been increasing due to increase of the life expectancy. At the same time, the rate of the elderly patients who have been in hospital is increasing. Most patients in hospital may experience sleep disturbances due to the different environmental factors as well as their physical and emotional problems. Pattern of the sleep disturbances for the adult and elderly patients were compared, but there found no specific differences between two groups. Nevertheless, most patients complained a variety of environmental factors that might disturb their sleep while they were in hospital. The findings were discussed in the context of nursing interventions which improve the quality of sleep for the patients in hospital.