Sleep study
I'm participating in a research study about nurses and sleep/wake cycles. It sounds really neat, I can't wait to see the final results.
For ten days, I have to fill in a couple of surveys a day about how tired I feel and how long I slept, how long it took me to fall asleep, did I wake up at all during my sleep time, etc.
And I have to wear this watch thing that measures my movements.
The theory is that you move less when you're really asleep, but sometimes you can be partially awake and moving around in bed and not getting good quality sleep. That fits me perfectly. I can "sleep" for eight hours sometimes and not feel well rested. It's hard to know why. Is it because I'm working on a sleep deficit, and I haven't caught up yet?
I went to my doctor once asking for a referral to the sleep lab, and my doctor didn't want to do that. My b12 levels were low, so she put me on supplements instead. It made me feel a bit better, but it doesn't solve the sleep problems.
The researcher told me that all of the studies she's read about nurses and shiftworkers sleep patterns basically said "the nurses said they were tired". But didn't answer why. So this part of finding out why - do nurses get a poorer quality of sleep than other people? I bet people who don't work shifts have problems with sleep/wake cycles too, though.
So that's what I'm doing this week.
Thanksgiving dinner at my mom's today. She has new cats, so we get to play and cuddle!
For ten days, I have to fill in a couple of surveys a day about how tired I feel and how long I slept, how long it took me to fall asleep, did I wake up at all during my sleep time, etc.
And I have to wear this watch thing that measures my movements.
The theory is that you move less when you're really asleep, but sometimes you can be partially awake and moving around in bed and not getting good quality sleep. That fits me perfectly. I can "sleep" for eight hours sometimes and not feel well rested. It's hard to know why. Is it because I'm working on a sleep deficit, and I haven't caught up yet?
I went to my doctor once asking for a referral to the sleep lab, and my doctor didn't want to do that. My b12 levels were low, so she put me on supplements instead. It made me feel a bit better, but it doesn't solve the sleep problems.
The researcher told me that all of the studies she's read about nurses and shiftworkers sleep patterns basically said "the nurses said they were tired". But didn't answer why. So this part of finding out why - do nurses get a poorer quality of sleep than other people? I bet people who don't work shifts have problems with sleep/wake cycles too, though.
So that's what I'm doing this week.
Thanksgiving dinner at my mom's today. She has new cats, so we get to play and cuddle!