Travel nursing professionals have long voiced the importance of getting an adequate night's sleep. Recently, the American Academy of Pediatrics urged U.S. high schools and middle schools to start classes later in the morning to allow kids more much-needed sleep.
The first bell should ring at 8:30 a.m. or later, said Dr. Judith Owens, the lead author of a new academy policy statement on school start times. At the very least, school should begin no earlier than 8 a.m. – a start time that only 15 percent of U.S. high schools have right now.
Consequences of not enough sleep
Owens pointed out, as medical staffing professionals might be aware, that lack of sleep in adolescents not only causes poor academic performance, but also poses a public health concern. Traffic accidents, obesity and depression may all hinge partly on too-little sleep.
The authors of the report stated that sleep-deprived teens tend to eat more fats and carbohydrates. Remarkably, every hour of sleep lost increases the odds of obesity by 80 percent, according to the report. Teens who go to sleep at midnight or later are also more likely to suffer from depression.
Conversely, middle and high schools that start later in the morning tend to have students with less tardiness, fewer attention difficulties, less daytime sleepiness and better academic performance than early-starting schools.
A new report by The University of Minnesota and funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention looked at 9,000 students in eight public high schools in three different states. Researchers examined school trends before they changed the start time and the effects afterward. The results showed that students who had a later start time were less likely to be depressed or use caffeine, alcohol or other drugs. They were more likely to go to school.
Even medical staffing professionals who don't have children in school might be affected when driving to work.
In one school, there was a 70 percent decrease in the number of car crashes. This was the result of shifting start times from 7:35 a.m. to 8:55 a.m, according to the University of Minnesota report.
Although the statistics were not the same across the board, the researchers believe there is enough evidence for school districts across the country to consider whether it's in their best interests to push back school start times, giving students the sleep they need.
Shifts in sleep-wake cycle
Opponents of the change argue that kids can just go to bed earlier. But Owens said that it's not that easy, due to biological rhythms.
During puberty, the body's natural sleep-wake cycle shifts, and it becomes difficult for adolescents to fall asleep earlier than 11 p.m. Teenagers' bodies release melatonin, a hormone the brain secretes to induce drowsiness, later than adults do.
Another issue, as medical staffing professionals know, is that teenagers require more sleep than people of other ages. They need 9 to 9.5 hours each night. Medical staffing specialists who have kids know how difficult it is to wake up their teenager in the morning. During adolescence, the body requires additional sleep to grow.
Limit electronic use at night
To boost the amount of shut-eye one gets, the AAP recommends limiting the use of electronic devices – a measure that's very applicable to travel nursing specialists.
Avoid dawdling on computers or watching TV in the bedroom, Dr. Jennifer Shu, a board-certified pediatrician in Atlanta, told CNN. They could also reduce distractions by having a central charging station to keep all of the electronics during the night