less naps

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I would like to be more proactive and get more sleep throughout the night so that I do not feel like one the days I am off that I need an afternoon nap.
Blog Commitment to Rest 01/11/2019 2:56pm CST

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There was an article posted on our intranet recently about better sleep in healthcare workers. As a nightshifter of 5+ years, this is something I'm always trying to improve. I liked this part about napping, as I usually tell myself naps are OK if I'm tired, without thinking of the effects on my sleep later.

"3. Nap strategically:

If you do shift work or face other sleep schedule challenges, carefully consider any naps you might take. When humans are awake, Maida says, we build up the need for sleep — called sleep pressure — in our brains. The longer we are awake, the more we need to sleep.For the average adult, after 16 hours awake, our sleep pressure is pretty high, and subsequently we become sleepy and don’t function optimally. So, if you nap in the latter half of the day, you partially reset your sleep pressure clock, allowing you to stay up and function for longer hours.

It is also important to consider the length of naps. Short, 20- to 30-minute “power naps” can be much more refreshing than longer naps, which often leave people feeling more tired because their body has entered “delta sleep” — a sleep stage that should only occur at night. The brain is not designed to be woken from delta sleep, so you will likely wake up feeling groggy if you nap too long."

 

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