‘To sleep or not to sleep’ in het ziekenhuis

Quality of sleep is an underrated element of the healing process for patients admitted to hospital. A recent article in JAMA Internal Medicine stated that sleep-disturbing factors such as noise and routine hospital activities should be considered more in-depth. Sleep quality is improved in patients staying in single-patient rooms that have en-suite bathrooms; this room setup has been applied in the new Erasmus MC hospital. Noise reduction is one element that can be looked at during the design phase, as well as appropriate lighting and light settings during the night. But also ‘routines’ such as waking patients early during ward rounds should be appraised, as the current waking-up time in hospitals is as early as 6.15 am. Alternative ways and times for patient interaction and monitoring might be beneficial in more than one way. Even when single rooms are perhaps not yet an option in some hospitals, measures to improve patients’ quality of sleep are necessary.

Conflict of interest and financial support: none declared.