Sleep Deprivation And Its Effects On Nurses Essay

Universal to every human from birth to death, sleep is a necessary function to survival, productivity, and happiness. While most fall asleep at night with ease, it is estimated that 50-70 million Americans battle sleep or wakefulness disorders. Although sleep disorders do not immediately present with a threat comparable to other common disorders such as depression, bipolar, or schizophrenia, sleep disorders prove very disruptive to one’s quality of life. Insufficient sleep may result in difficulty concentrating, difficulty with memory, trouble with personal care such as hygiene, driving, or managing finances, and poor performance in the workplace. While there is a wide array of sleep related illnesses that may plague any given individual,

The average human spends about 25 years of their life sleeping. That is equal to one-third of a person’s life. So if sleep is vital and common among every single human, what do you know about it? What happens when we sleep (Attention Grabber)? Before the 1950s, scientists believed that the brain would just “shut off” when we would go to sleep. It wasn’t until the discovery of the Rapid Eye Movement (REM) state that scientists really looked into what happens in the brain while we are asleep. Studies have found that we go through a cycle of stages during sleep, and it is important for our health (Orientation to Topic). Today, I am going to inform you about what really happens when we sleep, and some issues that are found among it (Specific Purpose). In order to really understand this worldwide commonality, you need to know some background on sleep, the stages in the cycle, and some common disorders (Central Idea). I have taken a year long psychology course that went into depth on sleep psychology, and I have done extensive research on the topic to better grasp it (Statement of Credibility). I want to inform you on sleep so you can understand what happens when you close your eyes every night, and so you can detect any irregularities in your sleep pattern (Statement of Goodwill). First, I will give a background of why and how we know to sleep, then I will explain the stages in the sleep cycle, and finally I will tell you about some common disorders (Preview).

There are distinctive stages of sleep REM sleep and non-REM sleep and about every ninety minutes we cycle through four recognizable sleep stages (Myers D 2014). Non-REM sleep consists for 3 different stages and during each stage it contains its own purpose. Stage one occurs for about 10 minutes and is when a person is lightly sleeping and can be woken up very easily (Mastin 2013). Muscles are still active and movement occurs more frequently such as twitches and the eyes roll around at a slow pace and breathing and heart rates slow down (Mastin 2013). Stage two happens between 45-50 percent of the night at different intervals (Mastin 2013). Muscle activity decreases and it is harder to wake up during this stage; if sounds are heard they are no longer able to make sense of them (Mastin 2013). The last stage: stage three which is also called delta

Sleep is one of the unavoidable daily-living activities and it is one of the most important factors contributing to a person’s health. A quality sleep is essential for the physical, cognitive and psychological well-being of a person. Learning, memory processing and maintenance of the brain are among the most important functions of sleep. In addition to maintaining the brain, sleep has important roles in controlling the

Although scientists are unsure why we sleep, they do know how sleep works. There are two phases of sleep: Rapid Eye Movement (REM sleep), and Non-Rapid Eye Movement (NREM sleep). These phases help form whole sleep cycles, and a complete cycle lasts around ninety to a hundred ten minutes. If you sleep for eight hours, you will go through about five cycles every night. During these cycles, you are mostly in NREM sleep. REM sleep only lasts for about ten minutes of the cycle. However, as the night progresses, NREM sleep decreases and REM sleep increases. Every cycle of sleep has five stages. In stage one, you will get NREM sleep. You begin to lose muscle tone, which causes twitches and hypnic jerks. You also have hypnagogic hallucinations and

Sleep disorders is one of the pivotal behavior in modern times when shortage of time for oneself is often the case with everyone. The problem is far more chronic when the patient has a condition of ADHD (Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder). The article sums up this condition, its effect on sleep and its remedy through different medications. The article describes that sleep disturbance can be divided into four categories which are; Initiation Insomnia, Restless Sleep, Difficulty Waking and Intrusive Sleep. Then articles discuss different theories from respected psychiatrists like Myron Brenner and Thomas Brown on the causes of this type of sleep disorder. Articles progresses with a explaining different ways to remedy the situation like using bed for sleeping and not thinking bout the problems of life, sticking to a vigorous routine of sleeping as well

With this in mind, a person’s heart rate slows, and they begin to rest and recharge after a long day. When this person finally dozes off, they undergo cycles of non-REM and REM sleep. Non-REM sleep comes early in sleep and contains deeper, more restful sleep. Dream filled REM sleep comes late in the night and when all dreams occur. Dreams in REM sleep can last anywhere from a few seconds to forty-five minutes long. The transition between the two cycles happens at the same time for each person, regardless of bedtime. The time of this switch between cycles differs for each person. This is the reason for not forcing sleep. This results in a healthy balance of non-REM and REM sleep balance

Many disorders and diseases can result from abnormal sleeping patterns that are triggered from sleep deprivation. The most common forms of sleep disorders include insomnia, sleep apnea, restless legs syndrome, and narcolepsy (NINDS 10). All of these sleep disorders begin from sleep deprivation and can be managed once they are diagnosed correctly. According to Urban, “Nervousness, dizziness, and sleeplessness may occur”, as a result of sleep deprivation (1). This proves that the slightest health changes can occur if sleep deprivation becomes a problem. According to NINDS, “The disorders and the resulting sleep deprivation interfere with work, driving, and social activities” (10). This shows that the effects of being sleep deprived can drastically change one’s everyday

What do the effects of sleep deprivation have on people? When a person does not get enough sleep, he or she is depriving his or her body of something that it needs. A delightful sleep is one of the most satisfying human experiences with a role to play in supporting a good mood and cognitive acuity as well as in promoting physiologic balance and resilience (Chittora, Jain and Suhalka). People think because they get an insufficient number of hours of sleep, they will not have an emotional impact by it. Sleep is a required need for peoples’ day to day life to be able to perform and stay healthy emotionally and physically. The effects of sleep deprivation are an issue because it affects mood, performance, and health.

Sleep, according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, is described as, “the natural periodic suspension of consciousness during which the powers of the body are restored.” While this is very true, there is so much more that goes into what people deem as “sleep”. There are many types of “sleep”, as strange as it sounds. In fact, there isn’t just one stage of sleep, but rather four distinct stages that occur multiple times each time someone closes their eyes for the night. And it’s only one of them that dreams are broadcasted and (sometimes) stored in our minds to wake up to in the morning. Not only are there multiple stages that create one sleep cycle, but there are multiple cycles that happen each night. The average person over the age of 10 sleeps through 4-6 cycles a night, as each cycle is completed in roughly 90-110 minutes.

Nurses, who are working in an intense environment with prolonged and varied shift hours, are prone to insufficient sleep/rest. Moreover, with repeated exposure to self-sacrificial tasks and less recovery time, nurses are also prone not only with stress/sleep-related disorders but also to compassion fatigue. Hence, without effective self-care management and adequate support, Lanier (2017) stated that over a period of time, nurses tend to be apathetic to their patients and lose their interest in their job. Relatedly, when leaders do not acknowledge this problem and intervene, they eventually suffer from poor quality of patient care, less productivity, ruined reputation, and financial losses. Thus,

Sleep disruption in hospital patients is a common problem; therefore, sleep deprivation has become a longstanding problem. Many studies on sleep deprivation and its negative consequences on health have been carried out by both nursing researchers and others although it seems to fall on deaf ears. However, all the researchers agree on one point: sleep deprivation is rampant in US hospitals.

Nurses spend most of their time taking care of their patients’ needs and will forget about their own wellbeing. Sleep deprivation is very common in the nursing profession and will prevent a nurse from performing certain tasks that require their undivided attention. By incorporating a nap into their shift can reduce the amount of errors in patient care. It is very important for a nurse to get enough sleep because this could effect whether a patient recovers or not. Not getting enough sleep can increase the chances of a nurse making a medication error causing a fatal outcome to their patient. Sleep deprivation can also be the cause of poor body mechanics, injuring themselves causing short-term or long-term disability. These relapses can reduce the overall productivity of the hospital and that department. Making sure that nurses sleep for a minimum of 8 hours per night is one way in which they can emphasize on self-care. A regular full-time work

A typical night’s sleep is much more complicated than just closing your eyes and waking in the morning. As humans, we live our life on a circadian rhythm. This means that changes occur roughly based upon a 24-hour basis. This circadian rhythm plays a major role in when we get tired and decide it’s time to sleep. This rhythm is theorized to have helped us stay safe thousands of years ago. We would fall asleep during the time that their seemed to be threats roaming around in the dark. to Once we finally get to sleep, our brains and bodies are doing much more than laying in complete stillness. There are five distinct stages of sleep that we experience as we sleep. Each is uniquely different and serves a purpose throughout the night. The first stage of sleep is a very light sleep that lasts for 5 to 10 minutes. During this stage of sleep, you may not even realize that you’re sleeping. While in this stage of sleep our brains power down by 50 percent and produce theta waves four to seven times per second. We proceed to stage two after this. During stage two, our brains power down

Sleep deprivation is a common issue among people around the world, and everyone has or will experience it in their life. Not getting enough sleep makes it difficult for the body to function properly. Insomnia is a well-known disorder, mainly known in the United States; one in ten adults suffers from this disorder (Kloc). There are many reasons why people end up with a sleeping disorder, and the most common reason is stress. When people do not have enough sleep they behave differently, and do not make the same choices as if they were fully rested. There are four stages of sleep. The fourth stage, REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep is the most important stage of sleeping. A common side effect of BPD (Borderline Personality Disorder) is sleep