Monday, February 20, 2017

Why is Napping Still an Issue?





Three years ago, I wrote in this blog about napping for night shift nurses.  You can read it here.


Why is napping still not widely encouraged for night shift nurses?  I don’t understand it.  We know that night shift workers are sleep deprived, we know that sleepiness contributes to errors, we know that sleepiness contributes to motor vehicle crashes, and we know that the only cure for sleepiness is sleep. 


Most importantly, we know that naps help.   


Even the Joint Commission recommends that organizations support napping for night shift employees!  You can read about that here.


Yet, when I talk to nurses and question them about napping, they report that napping is expressly forbidden by policy in their hospitals.  


We need more nurses and nurses need more sleep.  The answer seems simple to me.

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