Facilitators, barriers and opportunities in workplace wellbeing: A national survey of emergency department staff.

Introduction: Emergency department (ED) staff face daily exposure to the illness, injury, intoxication, violence and distress of others. Rates of clinician burnout are high and associated with poor patient outcomes. This study sought to measure the prevalence of burnout in ED personnel as well as determine the important facilitators of and barriers to workplace wellbeing.

Young drivers' perceptions of culpability of sleep-deprived versus drinking drivers.

Introduction: Sleep-deprived driving can be as dangerous as alcohol-impaired driving, however, little is known about attitudes toward sleep-deprived drivers. This study examined the extent to which young drivers regard sleep-deprived compared to drinking drivers as culpable for a crash, and how their perceptions of driving while in these conditions differ.

Method: University student participants (N=295; M=20.

Comparative sensitivity of a simulated driving task to self-report, physiological, and other performance measures during prolonged wakefulness.

Objectives: The objectives of this study were to compare (1) the sensitivity of simulated driving to self-report measures, nocturnal sleep latency tests (SLTs), and an auditory vigilance task and (2) urban and motorway driving.

Methods: Healthy males 18 to 35 years maintained wakefulness for one night and were tested at 2400, 0230, 0500 and 0730 h. In Study 1 (n=11), the SLTs were followed by auditory vigilance and simulated driving tasks; in Study 2 (n=18), the SLTs were preceded and followed by simulated driving on motorway and urban routes.

The hazards and prevention of driving while sleepy.

In the present paper the literature bearing on the association between sleepiness and driving is reviewed and the current state of prevention is discussed. Sleepiness may be a factor in about 20% of motor vehicle accidents and studies carried out in controlled environments suggest that the most common changes in driving performance attributable to sleepiness include increased variability of speed and lateral lane position. Higher-order functions including judgement and risk taking may also deteriorate.

Can patients with obstructive sleep apnea titrate their own continuous positive airway pressure?

Manual continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) titration in a sleep laboratory is costly and limits access for diagnostic studies. Many factors affect CPAP compliance, but education and support, rather than in-laboratory CPAP titration, appear to be pivotal. Self-adjustment of CPAP at home will provide equal or superior efficacy in the treatment of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) as compared with in-laboratory titration.

Sleep disturbance in cancer patients.

Sleep difficulty is a prominent concern of cancer patients, yet there has been no large study of the prevalence and nature of sleep disturbance in cancer patients. This cross-sectional survey study examined: (a) the prevalence of reported sleep problems in patients attending six clinics at a regional cancer centre; (b) sleep problem prevalence in relation to cancer treatment; and (c) the nature of reported insomnia (type, duration, and associated factors). For three months, all patients attending clinics for breast, gastrointestinal, genitourinary, gynecologic, lung, and non-melanoma skin cancers were offered a brief sleep questionnaire.