Sharon Kozachik on the Relationship Between Pain and Sleep

Sharon Kozachik, PhD, RN, FAAN, of Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing, discusses the correlation that sleep and pain share.

Disturbed sleep can lead to increased pain sensitivity the next day. Additionally, opioid analgesics can disrupt sleep architecture, particularly slow-wave (deeper, rejuvenating) sleep and REM (dream-state) sleep. For patients on opioids who have their sleep disturbed, it is likely they will need more opioids for the same amount of pain relief they had the night before.