December 16th, 2011 by KerriSparling in Opinion
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The flight from Boston to London took just over six hours. The time change was five hours ahead of Boston, so when we landed at 6 pm, I was only ready for lunch. The trek from London to Dubai was almost seven hours, pushing the clock ahead a full nine hours from Boston, making my head hurt because how was it Wednesday morning when I was still on Tuesday’s timetable?
(I wrote about the impact of changing time zones for an Animas column last month, but I seriously had no idea what I was in for when I decided to take the trip to Dubai.)
That first day there, the Wednesday, everyone gave me the same advice: “Don’t go to sleep.” (It felt like A Nightmare on Elm Street.) “Work through the exhaustion and just go to bed on Wednesday night on Dubai time, and you should be good the next day.”
For the first few hours after landing, Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Six Until Me.*
August 19th, 2011 by MotherJonesRN in Research, True Stories
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I wonder how many cups of coffee an average night nurse consumes during their shift. Look, there’s someone we can ask, although it looks like her caffeine buzz is wearing off. Notice the telltale chin to chest head tip that gives sleep deprived nurses away. She may look like she’s charting, but she really is in a twilight sleep.
Working nights isn’t for wimps. Neither is working holidays and weekends. You are always short of help, and BIG things seem to go wrong just as the day shift staff heads out the door. I always thought that I was just paranoid about working the off shifts, but Muhammad Saleem from RN Central sent me some information that validated my observations. I’ve posted their research results below. I’ve lived through a lot of these situations. I’ve seen seasoned nurses nod off at the desk at 3AM because they’ve been working their butts off, and I’ve worked with doctors who don’t answer pages promptly during evening hours and on weekends even though they are on call. I’ve also worked with new residences who are unable to write coherent orders until the third week of their rotation. Sometimes I’ve wondered why more things don’t go wrong in a hospital.
I think their information looks accurate. What do you think? Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Nurse Ratched's Place*
October 10th, 2010 by RyanDuBosar in Better Health Network, Health Tips, Humor, Opinion, Research
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Guest post by Dr. John Henning Schumann
I’m not a drum banger for the latest “epidemics” to come to media attention, whether it’s H1N1, Vitamin D, or getting your kids CAT-scanned routinely.
But there comes a time in every blogger’s life when he must comment on something that does bubble up into consciousness a tad, shall we say, often.
I’m talking here about an epidemic that we are learning more about each passing day. Something that you or someone you know or sleep with may be diagnosed with, and ultimately treated for (an interesting national problem in its own right): Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA).
What is it, you ask? A new national scourge? Stop the presses! Can I catch it? Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at ACP Hospitalist*
May 20th, 2010 by eDocAmerica in Better Health Network, Health Tips, Research
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Our busy lifestyles often aren’t conducive to getting the recommended amount of sleep at night. According to the National Sleep Foundation, adults need between seven and nine hours of sleep every night.
Dr. Kenneth Berg of the Mayo Clinic states that people who get less than seven hours of sleep per night have a higher mortality than those who have adequate sleeping habits.
Inadequate sleep has been linked to increased risk of motor vehicle accidents, an increase in body mass index and a greater likelihood of obesity due to an increased appetite caused by sleep deprivation, increased risk of diabetes and heart problems, increased risk for psychiatric conditions including depression and substance abuse, and decreased ability to pay attention, react to signals or remember new information. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at eDocAmerica*
April 11th, 2010 by Harriet Hall, M.D. in Better Health Network, Health Policy, News, Opinion, Quackery Exposed, Research, True Stories
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A new product, Dream Water, is designed to help one relax, fall asleep and improve the quality of sleep using the “perfect blend” of all-natural ingredients melatonin, GABA and 5-HTP (tryptophan).
A single-dose 2.5-ounce bottle retails for $2.99. They also offer a more dilute formulation in an 8-ounce bottle. They suggest drinking half a bottle, keeping it at your bedside, and drinking more if you wake up during the night.
What dosage will you get from half a bottle? From a whole bottle? There’s no way to know. They offer a money-back guarantee, free shipping, free samples, and lots of testimonials. But they refuse to disclose how much of what is in their product. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Science-Based Medicine*
