Sleep in mechanically ventilated patients.

People dependent on mechanical ventilation in an intensive care unit sleep poorly. Less than half of their sleep occurs at night. Sleep architecture is abnormal, with occasional disappearance of some stages of sleep, and there are frequent arousals and awakenings. Because most arousals are associated with caregiving activities or noise, caregivers should consolidate care and decrease environmental noise. More research is needed on sleep and sleep promotion in mechanically ventilated patients.