HEALTHY SLEEP
This month’s theme for the Healthy Nurse Healthy New Jersey initiative is HEALTHY SLEEP with the focus on Quality of Life-Mind-Body-Spirit. Healthy amounts of sleep is vital for nurses to function their best on and off the job. Nurses who are sleep deprived creates the perfect set-up for making mistakes and impairing critical thinking abilities which then puts patient safety at risk. According to the author, Brandon Peter, MD in his article How Much Sleep Adults Need on Average to Be Rested, the average adult needs between 7-9 hours of sleep each night. Are you getting that much sleep?
Read the article here: https://www.verywellhealth.com/how-much-sleep-do-adults-need-3015140
Here are some signs of sleepiness:
- Trouble keeping your eyes open
- Trouble staying focused
- Yawning
- Feeling irritable or emotional
- If your driving, you find yourself drifting from your lane and missing street signs
- Having a poor appetite
- Feeling anxious
Here are some causes of poor sleep:
- Restless Leg Syndrome
- Sleep Apnea
- Certain medications and/or drinking alcohol can cause sleep disruption
- Working a swing-shift or working as a night nurse
If you believe your poor sleep is related to a medical problem, seek help from your physician.
To ensure you get some Healthy Sleep, set-up a sleep routine; it works for children so why wouldn’t it work for us? To start your sleep routine, spend an hour or more before bed as wind down time by initiating self-care. You can do this by:
- Taking a soothing shower or bath
- Incorporate essential oils such as lavender in your sleep routine; either diffuse the oils in a diffuser or add a few drops of oils to your bath water
- Play soft soothing music
- Turn off your phones and your computers and stay off social media
- Drink some chamomile tea
- Read a good book
- Meditate
Sweet Dreams!
Linda Corigliano, Jillian Bailey, Tracey Jaworski-Lucas, and the Healthy Nurse Healthy New Jersey Team
