Night-shift workers need 'unbroken sleep'
The Treasure Valley’s largest employers — the hospitals and Micron Technology Inc. — are open 24-7 and often pay workers more for laboring while the rest of the world slumbers.
Sometimes, rotating overnight shifts are part of the job description, and most workers eventually make their peace with the dark hours. But at least 10 percent of overnight workers have big trouble turning their sleep schedule upside down.
Nancy Nadolski calls herself the "siren of sleep." Until recently, the Boise nurse practitioner had a practice devoted solely to helping patients with sleep problems, including "shift work sleep disorder." Nadolski is moving on to other ventures, but she shared what she’s learned over the years with Idaho Health. She wants to help people with insomnia caused by heart troubles, chronic pain, cancer treatment and other health problems. Treatment is a series of steps starting with a consultation. Next, patients usually undergo behavioral therapy to learn new sleep habits. Sometimes, patients need prescription medication or a sleep-lab evaluation.
She has a long list of things night-shifters can do to get as many hours of shut-eye in a row as possible. Unbroken sleep is best because it lets people drift through all the stages of sleep they require to restore the cells of their bodies. She has prescribed medicine when it’s appropriate.
Good sleep is vital nourishment for our minds and bodies, Nadolski said. Most experts recommend that adults get seven to nine hours of sleep daily.
When patients can’t sleep, "It becomes a barrier," Nadolski said. "Their mood plummets. They are not even able to put two or three hours of sleep together. Their appetite changes. All of these things are big red flags."
Road safety is an issue for shift workers at Micron, Saint Alphonsus or St. Luke’s hospitals, and other employers. Some workers are so tired when they leave work that they are in danger of falling asleep at the wheel.
Grave-yarders find various ways to balance their sleep. Workers with school-age children have it easier. They often sleep while their children are at school. Parents with younger children may have a much tougher time.
"Oftentimes, the shift worker will be sleeping on the couch in the room with the children watching the television," Nadolski said. "They’ve locked the doors. They’ve made sure the kids can’t leave the room."
The problem is many people can’t get more than two or three hours of sleep in a row doing that. And it takes a toll, whether they recognize it or not. Workers need time to cycle through four sleep stages, the final two of which restore our bodies.
"That’s where our cells renew themselves," Nadolski said. "That’s where we get the growth hormone and the REM (rapid eye movement) sleep ... for emotional restoration and memory restoration."
Online Links
Read the full interview with Nancy Nadolski
American Academy of Sleep Medicine on the use of sleep medications