Insomnia costs the average American employee 11.3 days a year, or $2,280, in lost productivity. A recent report from the American Academy of Sleep Medicine says that insomnia is affecting 23 percent of U.S. workers and creates a national cost of $63.2 billion for the sleeping disorder. “We were shocked by the enormous impact insomnia has on the average person’s life,” said study author Ronald Kessler, a psychiatric epidemiologist at Harvard Medical School. He also adds that main impact is not that U.S. workers are staying home due to sleeplessness; they still go to work, but are far less productive. The study results were from a national sampling of 7,428 employees. Insomnia was more prevalent among working women than males and also significantly lower among workers aged 65 and older.

Americans are accomplishing less at work because they are tired and, in an information-based economy, it is difficult to imagine a condition that has a more profound effect on productivity. How does insomnia affect nurses in particular? (more…)