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What's News at Guardian Nurses??
You're Getting
V-E-R-Y S-L-E-E-P-Y
It's All About Perspective
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What's New at
Guardian Nurses
Sharing the Patient Advocacy Story
In April and May, Betty Long will be sharing the patient advocacy story to nursing students, nursing school faculty, and hospital staff as she "takes her show on the road."
Stops on the show include visits to New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and closer to home, South Philadelphia!
In 10 years, it is clear that consumers, healthcare professionals and the media are much more aware of the role and VALUE of patients having advocates. And as Betty often says, "Who better to advocate for a patient than a nurse?"
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Dragon Boat Team is Named
The Guardian Nurses Dragon Boat Team held our first get-together and dinner and everyone is pumped! The photo captures some of our teammates!
Our full team name, Guardian Nurses Lifesavers was submitted to Festival organizers. Merriam-Webster defines lifesaver as: "one that is at once timely and effective in time of distress or need." We think that describes our advocacy services perfectly!
October 5th, here we come!
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It's All About Perspective
Well-known broadcaster Paul Harvey ended one of his syndicated shows with this story:
A boy stood alone on the baseball field, engrossed in hitting fungos. (Fungos are when a batter tosses a ball in the air with one hand, grabs the bat with both hands, and swings to hit the ball as it comes down). But each time the ball plopped to the ground.
Undaunted, the boy would again pick up the ball and toss it in the air. Again, he would take a mighty swing and again, the baseball would thud to the ground.
A man who had been watching this yelled to the boy, "Not having much luck, are you?"
"What do you mean?" the boy asked.
Well, I've been watching for 10 minutes and you haven't hit one ball."
"Shows how good I am!" the boy snapped back with a wide grin---"I'm a pitcher!"
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It was W.C. Fields who said, "The best cure for insomnia is to get a lot of sleep." Easier said than done especially if you're someone who suffers from sleep deficiency.
Sleep deficiency is a common public health problem in the United States. People in all age groups report not getting enough sleep. As part of a health survey for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 7 to 19% of adults in the U.S. reported not getting enough rest or sleep every day.
Chronic lack of sleep has cumulative detrimental health effects. It has been linked to an increased risk for heart disease, infection, high blood pressure, diabetes, stroke, obesity, and depression. It is also associated with an increased risk of injury in adults, teens, and children. For example, drowsy driving (not related to alcohol) accounts for more than 100,000 motor vehicle crashes, including 1,550 deaths and 40,000 non-fatal injuries annually. In the elderly, sleep deficiency might be linked to an increased risk of falls and broken bones.
Your mother was right (as mothers always are) when she told you that you needed your sleep! Now, more than ever!
Betty
Betty Long, RN, MHA
President
Guardian Nurses Healthcare Advocates
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You're Getting
V-e-r-y, V-e-r-y S-l-e-e-p-y
Falling Asleep At Your Desk?
Sleeping is a basic human need, like eating, drinking, and breathing. Like these other needs, sleeping is a vital part of the foundation for good health and well-being throughout your lifetime. But in today's zoom-zoom-zoom society, people cut back on sleep to save time. And if night after night, you're only getting 5--6 hours a night or less, you're probably not living the healthiest lifestyle or doing your best work.
THE BENEFITS OF SLEEP
Sleep helps your brain work properly. While you're sleeping, your brain is preparing for the next day. It's forming new pathways to help you learn and remember information.
Studies show that a good night's sleep improves learning. Whether you're learning math, how to play the piano, how to perfect your golf swing, or how to drive a car, sleep helps enhance your learning and problem-solving skills. Sleep also helps you pay attention, make decisions, and be creative.
Sleep also plays an important role in your physical health. It is involved in healing and repair of your heart and blood vessels. Sleep helps maintain a healthy balance of the hormones that make you feel hungry (ghrelin) or full (leptin). When you don't get enough sleep, your level of ghrelin goes up and your level of leptin goes down. This makes you feel hungrier than when you're well-rested.
Sleep also supports healthy growth and development. Deep sleep triggers the body to release the hormone that promotes normal growth in children and teens. This hormone also boosts muscle mass and helps repair cells and tissues in children, teens, and adults. Your ability to defend against foreign or harmful substances (also called your immune system), relies on sleep to stay healthy. Ongoing sleep deficiency can change the way in which your immune system responds. For example, if you're sleep deficient, you may have trouble fighting common infections like a cold. HOW MUCH SLEEP IS ENOUGH?
The amount of sleep you need each day will change over the course of your life. The National Institutes of Health's recommendations for different age groups follow: | Age | Recommended Amount |
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| Newborns | 16-18 hours a day | | Preschool-aged children | 11-12 hours a day | | School-aged children | At least 10 hours a day | | Teens | 9-10 hours a day | | Adults (including the elderly) | 7-8 hours a day |
HOW DO I KNOW IF I'M NOT GETTING ENOUGH SLEEP?
How sleepy you feel during the day can help you figure out whether you're having symptoms of problem sleepiness. You might be sleep deficient if you often feel like you could doze off while:
- Sitting and reading or watching TV
- Sitting still in a public place, such as a movie theater, meeting, or classroom
- Riding in a car for an hour without stopping
- Sitting and talking to someone
- Sitting quietly after lunch
- Sitting in traffic for a few minutes
WHAT TO DO
To find out whether you're sleep deficient, try keeping a sleep diary for a couple of weeks. Write down how much you sleep each night, how alert and rested you feel in the morning, and how sleepy you feel during the day.
Compare the amount of time you sleep each day with the average amount of sleep recommended for your age group (above). If you often feel very sleepy, and efforts to increase your sleep don't help, counting sheep and warm milk may help, but we recommend that you raise your concern with your healthcare provider. He or she can begin to assess, diagnose and treat whether you have a sleep disorder or some other problem which is causing your sleep issues.
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