News & Updates
Minimizing Disruption, Maximizing Sleep at Penn Medicine’s new Pavilion
Tuesday, January 11, 2022
At Penn Medicine, the development of the Pavilion at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania created a unique opportunity to take on the challenge of sleep disruption in hospitals. With an entire dedicated floor to oncology intensive care, this is good news for cancer patients being treated for more series complications related to cancer.
“Every single design choice for the Pavilion was made with the patient in mind,” says Kathryn Gallagher, MS, BSN, who spent most of her 35 years at Penn Medicine as a surgical critical care nurse and nurse manager, before becoming a clinical liaison helping to plan the design and transition to the new building. “When it comes to the patient experience, we know that being able to get enough rest is incredibly important. Noise reduction, especially at night, and patient comfort are paramount in the Pavilion’s design.”
How does this tie to cancer? According to The National Sleep Foundation, sleep is a major component when it comes to boosting the immune system. “Without sufficient sleep, your body makes fewer cytokines, a type of protein that targets infection and inflammation, effectively creating an immune response. Cytokines are both produced and released during sleep, causing a double whammy if you skimp on shut-eye.”
According to the Patient Empowerment Network, “Targeting inflammation is also especially important for cancer patients, seeing as the body can become inflamed from the cancer itself and/ or the commonly used treatments for it. Reducing the inflammation in the body helps its ability to fight off infection and heal.
Besides building up the immune system, being well rested is also important because it improves our mood and decision-making skills. There are many decisions that need to be made by the patient and family, such as length of treatment, treatments they are willing to try, treatments they are opposed to, etc. Being well-rested helps people to be more energized and have a clearer, calmer ground to make these difficult choices from. Extreme fatigue can lead to (or contribute to pre-existing) mental health disorders such as depression and anxiety. In order to make sound decisions for one’s physical, mental, and emotional health, sleep is an important factor that should always be prioritized.”
To read more about the improved sleep at Penn Medicine’s new Pavilion, read here.
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At Penn Medicine, the development of the Pavilion at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania created a unique opportunity to take on the challenge of sleep disruption in hospitals. With an entire dedicated floor to oncology intensive care, this is good news for cancer patients being treated for more series complications related to cancer.
“Every single design choice for the Pavilion was made with the patient in mind,” says Kathryn Gallagher, MS, BSN, who spent most of her 35 years at Penn Medicine as a surgical critical care nurse and nurse manager, before becoming a clinical liaison helping to plan the design and transition to the new building. “When it comes to the patient experience, we know that being able to get enough rest is incredibly important. Noise reduction, especially at night, and patient comfort are paramount in the Pavilion’s design.”
How does this tie to cancer? According to The National Sleep Foundation, sleep is a major component when it comes to boosting the immune system. “Without sufficient sleep, your body makes fewer cytokines, a type of protein that targets infection and inflammation, effectively creating an immune response. Cytokines are both produced and released during sleep, causing a double whammy if you skimp on shut-eye.”
According to the Patient Empowerment Network, “Targeting inflammation is also especially important for cancer patients, seeing as the body can become inflamed from the cancer itself and/ or the commonly used treatments for it. Reducing the inflammation in the body helps its ability to fight off infection and heal.
Besides building up the immune system, being well rested is also important because it improves our mood and decision-making skills. There are many decisions that need to be made by the patient and family, such as length of treatment, treatments they are willing to try, treatments they are opposed to, etc. Being well-rested helps people to be more energized and have a clearer, calmer ground to make these difficult choices from. Extreme fatigue can lead to (or contribute to pre-existing) mental health disorders such as depression and anxiety. In order to make sound decisions for one’s physical, mental, and emotional health, sleep is an important factor that should always be prioritized.”
To read more about the improved sleep at Penn Medicine’s new Pavilion, read here.