Sleep Disorders The number one career group that suffers from sleep disorders is nurses. This is based on careers overall, and which group in general has sleep problems, and it's not surprising at all that it is in the nursing field. Nurses and Sleep Disorders Reasons Why Shift work is the number one reason nurses suffer from sleep disorders. For anyone that works in different shifts, it is extremely difficult to get your sleep cycle straight. Your body gets confused when to sleep, and when not to sleep. Nurses that work different shifts say that they often have difficulty falling asleep, staying asleep, and staying awake. -
Patient Care is another reason nurses have problems sleeping. Nurses have good hearts and care for others, that’s why they are in the nursing profession. So, when their shift ends, and they leave for the day, their patients do not just exit their minds at the hospital doors. Many nurses report thinking about their patients at night, and unable to sleep because of it. Many say they go through a scenario of maybe they should have done something different that day, or maybe they should have devoted more time to a particular patient. And of course, there is the concern of the patients well being, will they be ok tomorrow, will they even be there tomorrow?
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Job Demands are a very big stress producer. Nurses have a difficult job in taking care of human lives, and administering medications that require careful techniques to do so. In addition to that, they have patients that call them to their rooms, patient families that call them on the phone, insurance companies of patients that call, and don’t forget doctor calls and doctor rounds. Any and all questions about a patient are directed to the nurse, and of course each nurse has multiple patients. That’s a lot to remember, and to keep straight, then comes the end of the day, it's virtually impossible to say, “ok, its’ over”. The stress of the day, often spills over into sleep. It’s too bad there is not a tiny light switch on our brain that we could switch off at the end of the day, but of course there is not.
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