Shifts and Sleep Disorders

(An excellent guest post by Sarah Scrafford)

We spend most of our lives sleeping, and if we did not, we would all live shorter and unhealthy lives. Sleep is extremely essential for both the physical and mental well being of each and every human being. While some people are able to get by with just 4 or 5 hours of sleep each night, others require a full 8 hours to function well the following day.

And then there are others who are forced to alternate sleeping patterns as often as every fortnight or month – people who work shifts; they have to adjust to changes in their days and nights, changes in the times they sleep and the times they work, and changes in their internal clocks. This destructive pattern not only wreaks havoc on productivity at the workplace but also causes untold damages to the shift workers’ health.

Shift workers are deprived of sleep because they have trouble falling asleep when their regular sleep timings are disrupted every two weeks or every month. Those who work nights are at a bigger disadvantage as they have to try and sleep peacefully when almost everyone else around them is awake. Noisy environments, intrusive phone calls and light streaming in through cracks in drawn curtains do not make a conducive atmosphere to catch a few hours of restful shuteye. Darkness, which induces the hormone melatonin and causes drowsiness, is essential for a good night’s sleep. Night workers are deprived of this vital ingredient in the recipe for continuous and restful slumber.

Sleep deprivation causes mistakes and accidents to happen in the workplace, sometimes mishaps with irreversible consequences. It also weakens the shift workers’ immune system and makes them more susceptible to colds, fevers and other ailments, induces headaches and migraines and causes a decrease in concentration levels and unexplained tiredness and fatigue. Social events and activities are affected too, as people who work night shifts are awake when their friends and family sleep and vice versa.

The time period when shifts change is especially stressful, as are the days that follow when the body is trying to accustom itself to a pattern that’s alien to its internal circadian rhythm. Shift changes entail continuous hours of work that span and overlap two shifts, and these are followed by hours of trying to fall asleep in the dark or light just as the body was getting used to the other.
The problem is compounded by short term solutions like drugs that help to stay awake and those that induce sleep. Any chemical that’s foreign to the body’s natural processes and fluids is dangerous as it can cause addiction and its associated complications in the long run.

Shift workers could try to better their situations by asking for longer time periods between changes in shifts so that their bodies are not put through the ordeal of constant adjustments between night and day. If they are working nights, they can turn off the telephone, insist that friends and family do not disturb them, and sleep in a dark room with drapes drawn over the windows.


Sarah Scrafford is an industry critic, as well as a regular contributor on the subject of RN. She invites your questions, comments and freelancing job inquiries at her email address: sarah.scrafford25@gmail.com.