By Lirika Hart

March 17, 2022

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8 Secrets to a Good Night’s Sleep When Feeling Fatigued

Without any doubt, sleep has a direct influence on your mental state and physical health. If you fail to get proper sleep, it will make you emotionally imbalanced, lower your daytime energy, reduce productivity, and drastically affect your overall health. Your brain, heart health, mood, creativity, vitality, and immune system can undergo adverse effects due to a poor routine.

Despite understanding the importance of sleep, many people toss and turn all night. Actually, getting a good night’s sleep becomes impossible when you are tired, have unhealthy daytime habits, or if you accidentally awake at 3 a.m. Do you also struggle for a sound and peaceful sleep? Trust me; you can get better control over your sleep quality than you probably realize.

Experiment with the given tips to enjoy better sleep at night, improve your thinking style, and significantly boost your health. These sleep strategies will help you stay energetic all day!

1: Keep Your Room Comfortable

Keep your bedroom comfortable! Please do not keep your television there as it can be a big distraction to your sleep. When you are in bed, put an ultimate effort to avoid responding to phones and emails. The bed needs to be a motivation for sleeping, not for wakefulness.

Furthermore, your room ambiance also affects sleep quality; ensure that you keep it as comfortable and soothing as possible. Ideally, you can go with a quiet, dark, calm environment; these features promote sleep onset.

2: Consider Exercise An Important Part Of Your Routine

Going for a walk will not just cut your weight down; it will also support you for a good sleep at night. Regular exercise activates the hormones that help in natural sleep, such as melatonin. Exercising close to bedtime can be more effective and hormone-stimulating. However, morning exercises that expose you to shining daylight can improve your natural circadian rhythm.

So, workout helps you in every way!

3: Follow Sleep Rituals

Bedtime rituals that you used to follow in your childhood can contribute to adulthood and late age.

Our mother used to tuck us in a bed and read a story for us; this pacifying ritual helped us quickly fall asleep. This sleep ritual signals the mind and body that it is sleep time. So, continue these rituals and read a book, drink a warm glass of water, take a bath, and listen to calming music to welcome a peaceful sleep time.

4: Eat—But Not Too Much

An empty stomach is distracting enough and keeps you awake, and the same is the case with an overly full belly. Do not eat a heavy meal before two to three hours of bedtime. If you feel hungry, eat small healthy snacks to satisfy yourself till breakfast.

5: Avoid Alcohol And Caffeine

It is okay to have snacks before bed but do not make wine and chocolate the part of them. Chocolate and alcohol act as stimulants, make you less sleepy and disrupt sleep during the night.

6: Buy Some Sleep Supporting Products

Another secret to peaceful sleep is using CBD capsules, drops, or products for better and faster sleep. If you’re wondering where to get these kinds of items, then try researching online CBD stores. There are many sleep supplements, goods that offer tinctures, pain relief, and vapes that are manufactured with natural ingredients to make it possible for you to sleep longer and better. These sleep-tight solutions also help you in several other ways, such as maintaining your beauty, skin repairing, workout recovery, and multiple other ways.

7: Don’t Overthink Or Stress

The bills, your to-do list, and other daytime worries can bubble up in your mind at night. Wind down yourself before bed because such thoughts can give stress and anxiety. Stress is a stimulus that boosts up fight-or-flight hormones that act as a sleep barrier.

Learning relaxation activities can promote good sleep and reduce daytime anxiety. You can practice deep breathing exercises to calm and relax promptly.

8: Get Your Check-ups

Snoring, an urge to move your leg moving, a burning pain in your chest, stomach, or throat are sleep disruptors. If these symptoms prolong—make you sleepy during the day or keep you up at night, visit your doctor for a check-up.

Our Summary

A night with a tight sleep can give you a happy and blissful morning, but we all know that falling asleep earlier and longer is not something easy.

Well, instead of getting worried or using sleep pills, you can try the above eight secrets to get a better night’s sleep.

We hope you found this article on 8 secrets to a good night’s sleep when feeling fatigued helpful. Have you found ways to get a good night’s sleep as a travel nurse? Comment them below.

Are you looking for your next travel nurse assignment? Click here to view our job board. Do you need housing for an upcoming assignment? Click here to search our housing page.

If you are a new travel nurse or looking into becoming a travel nurse:

Travel Nurse Guide: Step-by-Step (now offered in a PDF Downloadable version!)

By Linda Mazie

November 12, 2020

3387 Views

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Who Wants a Better Night Sleep?

Feeling tired? Crabby? Off-balance? Nodding off during lectures? Maybe you are not getting a good night’s sleep. A lot of factors interfere with a good night’s sleep…  As a travel nurse or travel healthcare worker, you must be getting the best sleep possible.

Focus on what you can control!!!

Stick to a schedule-

Go to bed and get up the same time every day, even on weekends.  Being consistent reinforces your body’s sleep-wake cycle and helps promote better sleep at night. Set this as a weekly goal!

Pay attention to what you eat and drink-

Caffeine and alcohol stimulation can interrupt sleep. Even if alcohol makes you sleepy at first, it can disrupt sleep later in the night. Get coached on eating healthy!

Create a bedtime ritual of relaxation-

Relaxing activities can promote better sleep, such as deep breathing, meditation, stretching, and reading a good book.  Watching television and sitting in front of the computer and iPad stimulates your brain and interferes with sleep. Try yoga or meditation.

Block out noise and light-

If your bedmate snores or gets up often during the night (be lucky if this isn’t your problem, J), wear earplugs. Get room darkening shades or blinds if the morning light wakes you up.

Limit daytime naps-

Nap no more than 10-30 minutes during the midafternoon to avoid insomnia at night.

Exercise-

Physical activity promotes better sleep. Get outside and go for a walk daily.

Get up to pee?

Acknowledge that this happens vs. fight it.  When going back to bed, try deep breathing and/or meditation.

Manage stress-

Does your mind wander at night, running through all that you have to remember to do? Before bedtime write down what is on your mind and then set it aside for tomorrow. Tell a story to yourself about a pleasant and happy experience of the past.

Be coached-

Coaching can address any of the above and more, helping you set goals for physical activity, better nutrition, managing stress, creating better sleeping habits, feeling healthier, and more. 

We hope that you found these tips to get a better night sleep helpful. It is essential for travel nurses and healthcare workers, especially to get the sleep you need to better care for your patients for sometimes 12+ hours at a time. Are there any tips you would like to share that you have found helpful as a travel nurse? Comment them below.


If you are a travel nurse looking for housing for your next assignment, check out our Housing Page!

By Gifted Healthcare

February 18, 2020

5990 Views

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Better Sleep Health: Tips for Travel Nurses

This article provided by: Gifted Healthcare

For many travel nurses, sleep is merely a luxury. Long hours and night shifts make sleep precious and hard to find.

However, getting enough shut-eye is an essential part of maintaining a healthy, productive lifestyle. Studies have shown that insufficient sleep can significantly affect one’s well-being.

But don’t worry, there’s hope! Read on for a list of tips to help travel nurses improve their sleep health.

Stick to a Schedule

While it can be difficult for shift workers to maintain a stable sleeping schedule, try to be as consistent as possible. This will make falling asleep and waking up much easier, and reduce your chance of crashing while you’re awake.

According to the National Sleep Foundation, maintaining a consistent schedule trains your body’s internal clock. This internal clock, or circadian rhythm, determines your cycles of sleepiness and alertness.

If you fall asleep and wake up at the same time each day, you’ll be less likely to feel the changes of your internal clock.

Take Time to Decompress

Engaging in stressful activities before bedtime can cause anxiety, which makes it harder to fall asleep and sleep soundly. Your body needs time to transition into “sleep mode.”

Try a calming activity like reading, meditation, or taking a bath. Once you’ve found a reliable way to decompress, try to incorporate it into your daily routine.

Avoid Electronics & Bright Lights

The type of light emitted from modern electronics can activate your brain in a way that makes it harder for you to sleep. Try to avoid screens at least an hour before your bedtime.

In addition, other kinds of light can disrupt your body’s natural sleep/wake cycle. If you work nights, do your best to avoid sunlight and make your home as dark as possible when it’s time to go to bed.

Exercise

Exercising is a great way to ensure that you sleep soundly, especially if you struggle with anxiety. Physical activity is a natural stress reliever and has been shown to improve sleep quality and increase sleep duration.

According to Sleep.org, “as little as 10 minutes of aerobic exercises, such as walking or cycling, can dramatically improve the quality of your sleep.”

Save Your Bedroom for Sleeping

Do you use your bedroom for activities other than sleeping? If you’re someone that has trouble falling or staying asleep, you might need to find a new room for working, watching television, or using your laptop.

By using your bedroom exclusively for sleeping, you strengthen your brain’s association between “bedroom” and “sleep.” If you find yourself lying awake and struggling to fall asleep, try moving to another room and doing something else until you feel tired enough to try again.

Avoid Stimulants & Large Meals Before Bedtime

Stimulants like nicotine and caffeine can significantly affect your body’s ability to wind down and fall asleep. Large meals can cause indigestion, which can keep you awake or cause you to wake up in the middle of the night.

Try to avoid stimulants and large meals at least two hours before bedtime.

Make Sure You’re Comfortable

Nobody looks forward to sleeping in an uncomfortable place. That’s why it’s so important to view your bedroom as a sleeping sanctuary.

Having a mattress and pillows that encourage a good night’s sleep is a worthwhile investment. It’s also essential to organize your bedroom in a way that eliminates stress and clutter.

Start Improving Your Sleep Health Today

Getting enough sleep is an important part of living your best nurse life! Use our list of tips to improve your sleep health today.

Finished the travel nursing guide and are ready to look for an assignment?

Check out our travel nurse jobs!