How to Make Sure Your Residents Get the Sleep They Need

Imagine…
Imagine having slept in the same room for 50 years. Then, your health requires that you be moved into a long-term care facility.

Overnight, you’re sleeping in a strange room and different bed. Where you once fell asleep to the sounds of your ticking clock or the drone of your air conditioner, you’re now awakened to door alarms or wheels of a laundry cart or staff talking in the hallways. Your room smells antiseptic. In the morning, a stranger wakes you for breakfast, but you’re tired and not hungry.

Sleep quality for nursing home residents can be something we easily take for granted.

Problems Caused by Poor Sleep
According to the National Institutes of Health, “Not sleeping well can lead to a number of problems . . . depressed mood, attention and memory problems, excessive daytime sleepiness, more nighttime falls and use of more over-the-counter or prescription sleep aids. Poor sleep is also associated with a poorer quality of life.”

Working in therapy with a resident who is sleep-deprived can lead to many barriers in their progress. Balance, endurance, attention and problem solving can be impaired creating a frustrating and difficult atmosphere for the resident.

Solutions
Therapy staff can help residents get a better night’s sleep. They can recommend

weighted blankets for a feeling of security,
aromatherapy to help overcome the antiseptic smells,
lighting for improved safety with night-time ambulation,
exercise during the day to regulate sleep patterns
and cognitive training to help cognitively impaired residents learn the layout of their rooms.

Nursing home staff can also help residents adjust by allowing items from home into their rooms such as a favorite recliner, bed linens, photos, or a CD player and preferred music. Staff can monitor the status of the mattresses, bed linens and pillows to ensure they don’t need replacement. Systems can be put in place to reduce noise levels, including reduced use of alarms and overhead pages, equipment reviews to identify noisy wheels, and quiet hours where the staff are required to hold conversations in areas away from residents.

A powerful way to determine how a facility can help residents get a good night’s sleep is first-hand experience. Have staff members spend the night, making it easy to identify barriers to a sound sleep.

Nursing Home Successes
One nursing home we worked with implemented an uninterrupted sleep program after residents and family expressed a need. The nursing home began hosting “fireside chats” twice a month to learn what improvements they could make to increase resident satisfaction. One such improvement was to provide residents more control over when they sleep and when they are woken for breakfast.

Another nursing home improved resident quality of life by decreasing the overall number of restraints used in the facility, which decreased noise levels and increased resident rapid-eye movement (REM) sleep.

Take the time to assess the quality of sleep your residents are experiencing. Are they getting enough exercise to relieve stress? Are their toileting schedules waking them up? Are smells unpleasant or noises loud? Importantly, are you providing the level of sleep and peace you expect in your own home?

Qsource works with nursing homes to improve the quality of care provided to residents and increase resident satisfaction. We can help. Learn more.