What is it you do, again?

Since I'm sitting here at work, I thought this would be an appropriate topic. Typically when I'm asked what I do for a living I try to give a simple explanation, but the answer, "I watch people sleep at night," is a tad much. While I do, indeed, watch people sleep at night, I'm not camped out in the patients' room watching them. In all reality, I'm usually just paying attention to a patient's brainwaves and breathing.

The majority of patients I see have no idea what a "good" night of sleep is. Throughout my typical night I watch patients cozy up in bed and I envy them because they get to sleep at a normal hour. After they've entered into the deep abyss, I watch to be sure they're breathing okay. Sometimes I get to help patients who don't breathe well and place them on CPAP, or a machine that forces air into the airway to keep it from collapsing throughout the night. CPAP is the rewarding part of my job. I love waking severe patients after they've slept with CPAP because they usually feel wonderful. The patients who don't sleep with CPAP for their studies are nice, too, but that's the more boring aspect of the job.

Anyway, this may not make sense since it's pretty early in your morning and late in my day, but I hope this gives you a little insight into my night.

I'm a Registered Sleep Tech, and yes, I watch people sleep at night!

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