Residential support workers are an under-researched group in
terms of sleep, they work under a rather rarefied set of operational
circumstances that often include in-house on call night shifts, and
work across multiple job roles and employers. Findings suggest that
their sleep is likely to be variable, differing between facilities and
from night to night, depending on factors such as level of patient
care, assistance from colleagues, stress, and the quality of the
sleeping environment (including bed comfort, light, noise andperceived safety). Findings also suggest that overall, this group have
sleep that is insufficient and of poor quality and that they may be at
risk of burnout. Given that they perform safety-critical tasks such as
administration of medications, maintaining clinical notes and
driving to and from home and between jobs, and the established
consequences of sleep loss and fatigue, research in this area has the
potential to facilitate improvements in health and safety in this
growing industry