Sleeping well for shift workers Rafael Castillo, MD Philippine Daily Inquirer
November 06, 2009
HAVING A GOOD NIGHT’S REST IS still one of the best ways our body can recover from the wear and tear of daily stress. The best time to sleep is still during the night especially between 10 p.m. and 3 a.m. Sleep during this time has a much higher rest value than other hours.
Unfortunately for some people, their work requires that they have to be fully awake during these hours. And usually these shift workers may not get the full rest which their bodies need even if they sleep the whole day after work.
One time I had to answer an emergency call in the hospital in the early morning hours and I scolded a nurse for moving sluggishly while attending to the patient. I failed to realize that the poor nurse had been answering one call after another since 10 p.m. the previous night. She apologized for my perceived sluggishness of her actions, but later I had to apologize to her for not considering that her lean body was already doing its best under the circumstances. The spirit was willing but the flesh needs to rest, too.
Health impact
An article in the November issue of H&L (Health & Lifestyle) written by Niña Elyca Rabadam stresses the health impact which sleep deprivation may have on shift workers. A handbook released by the Occupational Health Clinics for Ontario Workers Inc. defines shift work as work that is scheduled outside “normal” daylight hours (i.e., from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.). It includes both long-term night shifts and work schedules in which employees change or rotate shifts. This is usually the irregular work hours of hospital healthcare providers, call center agents, factory employees and workers in other industries that require continuous services and production, 24 hours per day, seven days a week.
The toll on the workers’ body can be quite significant. The undesirable consequences of shift work can include disruption of the internal body clock, sleeping difficulties, easy fatigability. All these affect the health and well-being of the worker in the long term.
The Division of Sleep Medicine at Harvard Medical School states that the greatest risk of disruption comes when changing from day work to night work. Many shift workers rotate their shifts, working some days and some nights, and have varying numbers of days off.
Because of their disrupted working and sleeping schedules, sleep deprivation can still be a major problem even during days they’re supposed to be off from work. They may find it difficult to sleep such that they may spend the night watching television, playing video games, surfing the Internet, or chatting with other insomniacs.
Changing from one shift schedule to another oftentimes is disorienting to the body’s internal clock. And it can be very confusing to the body. In this situation, the body is sending out signals to sleep during the night shift, making it difficult to stay alert, and sending out signals to stay awake during the day, when the shift worker is trying to get some sleep.
Sleeping during daytime can never be the same as sleeping at night. Shift workers who sleep during daytime are particularly at risk of fatigue, because their day sleep is often lighter, shorter and more easily disturbed because of daytime noise and a natural reluctance to sleep during daylight.
This lack of quality sleep takes its toll on the worker’s performance at work. If workers are fatigued, they are less alert, their reaction time is slower, they find it less easy to concentrate, and they may make ill-judged decisions. As a result, they may make more errors, which can lead to accidents and injuries. For hospital workers or those operating machinery, these errors can be fatally serious.
Improving quality of sleep
In Rabadam’s H&L article, the following pointers are given to shift workers to improve the quality of sleep:
• Make sure that family and friends are aware of and are considerate of the worker’s sleep hours and needs.
• Ensure that you have a comfortable, quiet place to sleep during the day.
• Air-conditioning, telephone answering machine, foam earplugs and good blinds can improve the worker’s sleep.
• Make time for quiet relaxation before bed to facilitate better sleeping (such as reading, breathing exercises and muscle relaxation techniques).
• Sleep on a set schedule to help establish a routine and to make sleep during the day easier.
• Avoid strenuous exercise before sleeping because your body’s metabolism will remain elevated for several hours and this will make sleeping difficult.
• If one does not fall asleep after one hour, one should get up and read a book or listen to soft music.
• If sleep still does not come, reschedule sleeping hours for later in the day.
• Over-the-counter food supplements such as Sleepwell capsules or Melatonin-T may help improve the quality of sleep.
Well, with some adjustments, even shift workers can still have sweet dreams and a restful sleep.
