Sleep: health source or health problem
Section: TEACHING TO LEARN
Authors
Raimunda Montejano Lozoya, Ángela Olmedo Salas
Position
Profesoras de la Escuela Universitaria de Enfermería “La Fe”, Valencia.
Contact email: montejano_rai@gva.es
Abstract
Sleep is a basic human necessity. On average human beings spend about one third to one quarter of their lives sleeping, making sleep an activity of utmost importance just based on the amount of time dedicated to it.
It may seem paradoxical to consider sleep an activity; but the truth is that although the organism is resting, many bodily systems keep on functioning, some at a slower pace, others at a faster one. Since sleep is important for people and we know that there are several factors associated with health problems that may alter the normal sleep pattern, nurses must remain alert in order to detect these factors and intervene to palliate their effects or eliminate them.
This article aims to highlight the most important concepts related to sleep: its characteristics, ways to cover this need throughout the stages of the life cycle, factors that may affect sleep so that more useful information is available when caring for people with sleep problems.
Keywords:
sleep physiology; normal sleep pattern; REM sleepNREM sleep
Versión en Español
Título:
