Sleep Interrupted in Hospital: What to Tell Your Care Team

If you have just settled back to sleep when the room becomes busy again, it can be hard to explain the night as anything other than exhausting. A few concrete notes can help you tell the team what happened.

Record what interrupted you

Hospital noise, light and necessary overnight care can interrupt sleep. Illness symptoms, medicine effects and discomfort from medical equipment can also contribute. Several factors may be present together.¹

If you are able, jot down an approximate time and what you noticed. Keep uncertainty in the note: “I woke around two; I don’t know whether the hallway noise woke me or I was already awake.”

Use descriptions the team can respond to: bright room, nearby conversation, coughing, discomfort from the position you were in, or a care visit. You do not need to identify the medical cause yourself. Tell staff about symptoms when they occur rather than waiting to finish a sleep record.

Ask which arrangements are possible

The ATS suggests discussing ways to reduce sleep interruptions with the healthcare team, which may include coordinating test or procedure schedules. Necessary care still comes first; ask what can fit your care plan.¹

Try: “These were the interruptions I noticed. Are there any checks or appointments that can be coordinated, and which need to stay at their current times?”

Leave room for the answer. A note about what the team can arrange is more useful than a plan that assumes every interruption can be removed.

Bring medicine questions to the team

Ask your healthcare provider whether any medicines could be affecting sleep and whether a change is appropriate. Changes to a medicine or its timing belong with the clinical team.¹

Write down the question you want answered: “Could anything in my current medicines be contributing to this night?” Record the team’s instructions separately from your observations so you can find them again.

Mention your home breathing treatment

Tell the hospital team if you use CPAP or BPAP at home. They may ask you to bring your equipment. The hospital plan may continue usual settings or use different orders, depending on your illness.¹

Ask who is arranging your breathing treatment during the stay and what you should follow tonight. Keep those instructions with your hospital notes.

Keep the notes brief enough to use

One page can hold three things: what you noticed, what you asked and what the team told you. If writing feels like too much, tell the nurse directly or ask someone accompanying you to help record your questions.

Did I Do That in My Sleep? includes a Night Map and a Visit Brief. Use them to organize your observations and questions alongside your hospital team’s instructions. See the book.