We read the Ask the Experts article by Dr Kidd regarding sleep in the critical care setting (Critical Care Nurse. 2023;43[5]:63-66) with great interest,1  and we would like to echo and amplify her important message by discussing healthy sleep for intensive care unit (ICU) family members. Aspects of the sleep environment within households such as neighborhood noise levels, safety, and variation in daily schedules may affect all family members. Consequently, exploring ways to support healthy sleep habits for ICU family members should be a strategy to support post-discharge patient adjustment.

Many ICU family members worry about the patient. Choices faced by decision-making surrogates are often novel and tax their cognitive and emotional resources, especially when the patient’s wishes and goals of care are not well documented or when the critical illness is sudden. Although the role of sleep in supporting decision-making is unclear, because new information about...

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