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The not-so-silent night: Challenges in improving sleep in inpatients with Dr. Vineet Arora
Sleep Medicine Network
Nonrespiratory Sleep Section
Q: Are there interventions that can be readily implemented to improve sleep quality for hospitalized patients?
Dr. Arora: A patient’s first night in the hospital is probably not the night to liberalize sleep; you’re still figuring out whether they’re stable. But by the second or third day, you should be questioning—do you need vitals at night? Do you need a 4 AM blood draw?
We did an intervention called SIESTA that included both staff education about batching care and system-wide, electronic health record-based interventions to remind clinicians that as patients get better, you can deintensify their care. And we’re currently doing a randomized controlled trial of educating and empowering patients to ask their teams to help them get better sleep.
Q: Does hospital sleep deprivation affect patients after discharge?
Dr. Arora: Absolutely. “Posthospital syndrome” is the idea that 30 days after discharge, you’re vulnerable to getting readmitted – not because of the disease you came in with, but something else. And people who report sleep complaints in the hospital are more likely to be readmitted.
When people are acutely sleep deprived, their blood pressure is higher. Their blood sugar is higher. Their cytokine response and immune function are blunted. And our work shows that sleep deficits from the hospital continue even when you go home. Fatigue becomes a very real issue. And when you’re super fatigued, are you going to want to do your physical therapy? Will you be able to take care of yourself? Will you be able to learn and understand your discharge instructions?
We have such a huge gap to improve sleep. It’s of interest to people, but they are struggling with how to do it. And that’s where I think empowering frontline clinicians to take the lead is a great project for people to take on.
Vineet Arora, MD, MAPP, is the Dean for Medical Education at the University of Chicago and an academic hospitalist who specializes in the quality, safety, and experience of care delivered to hospitalized adults.
Sleep Medicine Network
Nonrespiratory Sleep Section
Q: Are there interventions that can be readily implemented to improve sleep quality for hospitalized patients?
Dr. Arora: A patient’s first night in the hospital is probably not the night to liberalize sleep; you’re still figuring out whether they’re stable. But by the second or third day, you should be questioning—do you need vitals at night? Do you need a 4 AM blood draw?
We did an intervention called SIESTA that included both staff education about batching care and system-wide, electronic health record-based interventions to remind clinicians that as patients get better, you can deintensify their care. And we’re currently doing a randomized controlled trial of educating and empowering patients to ask their teams to help them get better sleep.
Q: Does hospital sleep deprivation affect patients after discharge?
Dr. Arora: Absolutely. “Posthospital syndrome” is the idea that 30 days after discharge, you’re vulnerable to getting readmitted – not because of the disease you came in with, but something else. And people who report sleep complaints in the hospital are more likely to be readmitted.
When people are acutely sleep deprived, their blood pressure is higher. Their blood sugar is higher. Their cytokine response and immune function are blunted. And our work shows that sleep deficits from the hospital continue even when you go home. Fatigue becomes a very real issue. And when you’re super fatigued, are you going to want to do your physical therapy? Will you be able to take care of yourself? Will you be able to learn and understand your discharge instructions?
We have such a huge gap to improve sleep. It’s of interest to people, but they are struggling with how to do it. And that’s where I think empowering frontline clinicians to take the lead is a great project for people to take on.
Vineet Arora, MD, MAPP, is the Dean for Medical Education at the University of Chicago and an academic hospitalist who specializes in the quality, safety, and experience of care delivered to hospitalized adults.
Sleep Medicine Network
Nonrespiratory Sleep Section
Q: Are there interventions that can be readily implemented to improve sleep quality for hospitalized patients?
Dr. Arora: A patient’s first night in the hospital is probably not the night to liberalize sleep; you’re still figuring out whether they’re stable. But by the second or third day, you should be questioning—do you need vitals at night? Do you need a 4 AM blood draw?
We did an intervention called SIESTA that included both staff education about batching care and system-wide, electronic health record-based interventions to remind clinicians that as patients get better, you can deintensify their care. And we’re currently doing a randomized controlled trial of educating and empowering patients to ask their teams to help them get better sleep.
Q: Does hospital sleep deprivation affect patients after discharge?
Dr. Arora: Absolutely. “Posthospital syndrome” is the idea that 30 days after discharge, you’re vulnerable to getting readmitted – not because of the disease you came in with, but something else. And people who report sleep complaints in the hospital are more likely to be readmitted.
When people are acutely sleep deprived, their blood pressure is higher. Their blood sugar is higher. Their cytokine response and immune function are blunted. And our work shows that sleep deficits from the hospital continue even when you go home. Fatigue becomes a very real issue. And when you’re super fatigued, are you going to want to do your physical therapy? Will you be able to take care of yourself? Will you be able to learn and understand your discharge instructions?
We have such a huge gap to improve sleep. It’s of interest to people, but they are struggling with how to do it. And that’s where I think empowering frontline clinicians to take the lead is a great project for people to take on.
Vineet Arora, MD, MAPP, is the Dean for Medical Education at the University of Chicago and an academic hospitalist who specializes in the quality, safety, and experience of care delivered to hospitalized adults.