Sometimes going to the hospital can seem like two forces working against each other. You are at the hospital because you are sick and need treatment and recovery, but the experience of being in the hospital can make recovering from your illness difficult.
One of the most important elements to recovering from most illnesses is sleep. When you can get quality sleep, your body is able to focus on recovery so you can heal more quickly.
Here are some tips for getting better sleep during your hospital stay.
Be active when you can
Often, hospital life is very different from your regular life. Rather than going to work or doing chores or other activities during the day, you feel confined to your bed and end up dozing for large portions of the day.
As you recover, you may have limitations to your mobility, but talk to your medical team about what you can do during the day. If you are on strict bedrest, think about activities you can do to keep your mind busy like reading or doing puzzles. The more active you can be during the day, the easier it will be to sleep soundly at night (even with people checking on you through the night).
Talk to your medical team
One of the common disruptions to your sleep in the hospital is the constant monitoring during the night. Depending on your situation, you may have people coming in every hour or more to monitor your condition.
Talk to the nurses and other staff about how much monitoring needs to be done in your room and how much they can do from the nurses’ station. It may be possible to reduce the overnight visits with a few changes to your monitors.