If you undergo an elective or corrective procedure, you probably want to get out of the surgical center and back to the comfort of your home as soon as possible for a number of different reasons. Sure, it’s helpful to have a professional nearby in the immediate aftermath of your operation, but there are also a few downsides associated with being in a hospital during your recovery period.
One of the main drawbacks is that good sleep is oftentimes hard to come by in the hospital, and restorative sleep is crucial when you’re working to recover following an operation.
Lack of quality sleep or sleep deprivation caused by a stay at the hospital has been coined “post-hospital syndrome” by Yale cardiologist Harlan Krumholz, who has been working to understand its effects on patients for years. He recently brought the issue up again on Twitter after he and colleagues documented that 4 in 10 blood draws at Yale New Haven Hospital occurred before 7 a.m. He theorized that patients may be better off if doctors ordered longer periods of restorative sleep instead of early morning blood tests.
In the below tweet, you’ll see that Krumholz tweeted “sleep as medicine,” and shared his research on the timing of blood draws among hospitalized patients. Interestingly, many people replied to the tweet, sharing their own horror stories about being unable to achieve restful sleep in the hospital for a number of different reasons.
Sleep as medicine… On behalf of hospitalized patients, what is we simply stopped ordering routine lab draws before 7am. What is we wrote an order, do not disturb before 7am except for an urgent need. Or an order for 7 hrs of peace and quiet. @FutureDocs https://t.co/uObrEHlreM pic.twitter.com/4kv0MVpjMl
— Harlan Krumholz (@hmkyale) January 22, 2023
Sleep As Medicine
Other studies have found that sleep-friendly practices such as decreasing ambient light, reducing overnight vital sign monitoring and adjusting lab and medication schedules are rarely used at most major hospitals. Krumholz believes that not enough is being done to fix the problem.
“[There’s] a lack of creativity and imagination, and an almost military mentality,” said Krumholz. “The idea is everyone has to tough it out. But this is different than just patient satisfaction and customer care. People are getting sick and some are surely dying because of this.”
Dr. Silverman Comments
Improved sleep is one of the main reasons why I work so hard to get my patients ready for outpatient surgery and back home as soon as possible to begin their recovery. Even when sleep-focused practices are used, it’s not always easy to achieve restful sleep in a hospital setting. The beds aren’t as comfortable as your bed back home, and there’s likely a lot more noise on the hospital floor. Poor sleep could be setting you up for poor outcomes, and we can’t have that.
We will never discharge you before you’re ready, but at the same time, we’re going to push to ensure you are physically and mentally prepared to continue your recovery from the comfort of your home because we know how important restful sleep is to your rehabilitation process. Kudos to Krumholz and his team for bringing this issue to light.