Our prior research on sleep with SIESTA shows that there is a serious need for better sleep conditions for inpatients. The hospital is a sleep-inhibitive environment filled with medical disruptions and an excess of lights and noise. While we’ve shown that medical staff such as nurses can promote better conditions through sleep-conscious decisions, what role do patients have in advocating for their own sleep?

ISLEEP (Inpatient Sleep Loss: Educating and Empowering Patients) is a program that builds on SIESTA by encouraging patients to ask for more sleep-friendly care, including reduction of taking unnecessary vitals and batching all medical disruptions together. The study is ongoing and beginning a randomized control trial to determine whether our educational intervention can effectively increase sleep quality in patients.