Understanding patients’ nutritional status in relation to sleep deprivation

In the April issue of Critical Care Nurse, Grimm discusses sleep deprivation in the OnlineNOW article “Sleep Deprivation in the Intensive Care Patient” (2020;40[2]:e16-e24). I have been a nurse for 12 years, with the majority of my background in intensive care. I recently transitioned into nursing administration as a nurse educator over medical/surgical units, clinics, day surgery, and intensive care. The topic of sleep deprivation concerns me because lack of sleep is associated with other problems such as longer stay, decreased healing, and decreased ability to absorb self-care education. All of these factors increase cost at the hospital’s expense. Recently, there has been a surge of patients with coronavirus disease 2019 in intensive care, and these patients are not sleeping well. Although the guidelines and research presented by Grimm offer excellent courses of action, I would like to emphasize another aspect that plays into sleep deprivation in intensive...