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You might have experienced sleeping less than what’s typically required and still are able to go to your work the next day. This gives the illusion that people can deny themselves rest and still be fine. While this can be true for a few days, when prolonged, sleep deprivation has damaging effects.
When restlessness creeps up, most can adjust their routines and reward themselves with a good night’s sleep. But what happens to those people who have to stay up and work on-call? How does sleep deprivation in caregivers and other healthcare workers influence their lives and careers?
How Does Sleep Deprivation Affect Health Care Workers?
The answer is straightforward: sleep deprivation disrupts everyday tasks, resulting in compromised results. For most, this may mean dropped grades at best, which isn’t necessarily beneficial but also not quite destructive. But in cases where healthcare workers are involved, sleep deprivation in caregivers might lead to more serious consequences.
Adults need seven to nine hours of sleep every night to optimally function daily. When the hours are reduced, whether it be due to work or sleep problems, how people operate also diminishes.
In dementia care, 70% of caregivers are said to experience some sleep problems. 60% of them sleep less than seven hours, and a whopping 10-20% depend on alcohol or medications to fall asleep.
This is an alarming state caregivers subject themselves to. In a field where they’re expected to be in their best condition to provide the ideal service, sleep must be of paramount importance. But given the nature of their work, it is also a challenge to meet such conditions.
It’s not foreign for people to struggle to find that perfect work-life balance.
However, caregivers experience more debilitating problems with finding healthy stability.
Why Is It Important to Avoid Sleep Deprivation in Caregivers?
In the caregiver book by Eleanor Gaccetta, the author talks about the numerous struggles she had to endure while helping her mother fight against her illness. A big factor in her story revolves around juggling family caregiving and living her identity. She had to find the thin line where she could peacefully dedicate her time to her mother but also find comfort for herself.
Like everyone else, one way to achieve this would be to establish a healthy routine to support herself. This includes getting ample rest, slowing down, and recharging.
Sleep deprivation in caregivers is common as most find themselves exhausted most days but are unable to rest when it’s time. Regardless of whether they’re provided with the most comfortable resources, most may still be unable to doze off. This leads to more accumulated sleep debt, which will only weigh their performance down.
Sleep Influences Overall Functioning
One of the most evident impact of sleep deprivation in caregivers has to do with their performance. Sleep is when people’s cognitive functioning can reset, allowing them to perform well in their tasks regardless of how tired they had been the previous days. With the lack of sleep, not only would caregivers be irritable, but they would also run the risk of making medical errors.
This, with the factor of insufficient rest, impacts their overall well-being, making them more susceptible to burnout, depression, and other health complications.
Sleep deprivation in caregivers is, first and foremost, a personal problem directly impacting healthcare workers. But this can still influence the service they’re providing.
Hence, when caregivers suffer from insufficient sleep, their patients may also be at risk of substandard or unpleasant treatment. This is precisely why caregivers are encouraged to prioritize quality sleep, although it can seem impossible given the nature of their jobs. This not only improves their service to their patients but also helps their well-being.
What Can Be Done to Combat Sleep Deprivation?
Undoubtedly, lack of sleep makes caregiving a lot more complicated than it should be.
Unfortunately, this remains a significant problem for the population. A lot can be done, but some may still see failed improvements and continue to suffer.
While it does pose a real challenge, getting a good night’s sleep isn’t impossible. Here are some ways to improve your chances of getting the perfect snooze time:
Modify Sleeping Environment
One reason sleep doesn’t arrive easily is the environment. Most caregivers may find themselves going home and resting in the morning, a time that isn’t encouraging for sleep. The secret to avoiding sleep deprivation in caregivers is to deceive the body.
A practical tip is to limit light. Some achieve this by closing their blinds or replacing their curtains with black-out ones, reducing the light coming into the room as much as possible. Studies have also found that people fall asleep faster and have a better quality of rest in cooler temperatures. Last but not least, limit noise. Building the right environment can be a challenge, but the results will be well worth it as caregivers find themselves in deep sleep.
Remote Monitoring Technology
Technology can be beneficial for family caregivers who may not have timeouts. If there are moments when worry causes them to be restless and constantly check on their adults, a remote monitoring device will help them get through the night. Instead of constantly having their sleep disrupted by physically having to move, this technology allows them to listen and look at another room with ease and less movement. One of the most common remove monitoring devices available to caregivers is a baby monitor. One monitor set up in the patient’s room and the other in the caregiver’s room. With sound coming from the patient’s room, the patient can call for help or the caregiver can monitor the movement. Many new monitors also have a screen that also allows caregivers to view activity in the patient’s room.
There will still be times when there’s no other option but to physically check in on their patients. However, removing the monitoring device will make the work easier.
If you want to read more about how caregivers juggle their time, grab a copy of Eleanor Gaccetta’s One Caregiver’s Journey at Amazon, Barnes and Noble or Google Books. It can also be ordered from www.onecaregiversjourney.com.
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