title: Night nursing. Understanding the nature of sleep.
abstract: This is the first article in a series of three looking at patients' sleep in hospitals. This article explores the nature of sleep and reviews the various theories that have been put forward to explain why we need to sleep. The other two articles will concentrate on sleep disorders and hospitalisation, and the role of the night nurse.
authors: J
authors: J
authors: Duxbury
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D007297:Inpatients; D009732:Nursing Care; D009738:Nursing Service, Hospital / Q000458:organization & administration; D010561:Personnel Staffing and Scheduling; D012890:Sleep; D012894:Sleep Stages