ROM? Check. MMT? Check. Lymphedema measurements? Check.
I thought I had all my ducks in a row for assessing my patients, but I was neglecting a key component that affects LITERALLY all of these things & so much more. It was actually keeping my patients from improving significantly in many cases.
Any guesses yet?
SLEEP. I wrote everybody off as already having cancer-related fatigue, so I rarely asked questions about their sleep. What I was missing shocked me: patients unable to sleep through the night, sleeping on couches, & even sleeping on the floor. WHAT WAS I DOING???
It shocked me to my core, so now I ask about sleep with every patient. And I don’t want you to miss any sleep issues with your patients anymore.
My go-to questions for assessing sleep:
1. How is your sleep?
2. What is your sleep environment like?
3. What are your sleep habits/routine?
Are you asking enough about your patients’ sleep?