On our cover this month is Pablo Picasso’s Le Rêve (The Dream). We chose this portrait of a woman in a restful pose to highlight the importance of proper sleep to a person’s overall health and well-being. Unfortunately, not many Americans are able to get the proper amount of rest. The Institute of Medicine (IOM) estimates that 50 to 70 million U.S. adults have chronic sleep and wakefulness disorders—and nurses are not immune.

Between long shifts and the stressful nature of their jobs, nurses are especially vulnerable to not getting an adequate amount of quality sleep. Fatigue from lack of sleep may diminish the quality of nursing care. Sleep loss has been linked to impaired learning, memory, and judgment and is also associated with a slew of chronic diseases. This month’s CE feature, “The Potential Effects of Sleep Loss on a Nurse’s Health,” describes the acute and chronic effects of sleep loss on nurses, strategies nurses can use to improve the quality of their sleep, and institutional policies that can promote good rest and recuperation.

This feature offers 2 CE credits to those who take the test that follows the article. You can further explore this topic by listening to a podcast interview with the author (this and other free podcasts are accessible via the Behind the Article podcasts page on our Web site, in our […]