Page 196 - Nursing: The Philosophy and Science of Caring

a dmi ni st ering sacr e d nu rs i ng a ct s
Exogenous rhythms help achieve an internal balance with external
stimuli. There are also endogenous rhythms, which are internal regu-
lations. These rhythms generally function in harmony, but changes
in one cycle affect the other and do not necessarily synchronize.
Alternation of the waking and sleeping states is the most overt pattern
of biorhythms that affects both activity and inactivity levels. A great
deal of controversy and conflict exist over nurses working twelve-
hour periods and switching between night and day hours for work.
The biorhythms that affect levels of alertness, fatigue, social patterns,
thought process, irritability, and so on, are manifest in an upsetting of
one’s energetic field. Activity occurs during a person’s usual waking
period. The waking state provides the greatest opportunity for deci-
sion making and physical activity. The sleep state provides the neces-
sary rest and restoration required to stay in harmony with one’s inner
and outer rhythms of energy balance.
Just as activity is critical for one’s Being-in-the-world, so is inactiv-
ity: sleep and rest. Inactivity helps one conserve and replenish energy.
It helps balance the expenditure and renewal of one’s source of energy.
Even sleep, which is essential for energy conservation and renewal, is
not passive, however. It is paradoxical that during sleep the muscles are
profoundly relaxed while brain activity is increased, generally with an
increase in vital signs.
This increase in cortical activity and vital signs is associated with
dream states, even though the exact function of dreaming is still
unknown. There are various theories to explain dreams, but some of
the research validates the fact that dreams have a mental restorative
function; some research indicates that it is connecting one to higher
self, the unconscious, inner wisdom, one’s spirit guide, and so on.
The important point here is that dreaming and sleep are critical to
one’s well-being. Hospitalization and sick regimes that induce interrup-
tions of sleep lead to sleep deprivation, altered rhythms of rest-activity,
and nonconstructive use of sleep, upsetting one’s biorhythms.
The use of sleeping pills to address sleep deprivation often alters
dream sleep and affects one’s sleep pattern, accompanied by night-
mares and vivid dreams that are tiring, resulting in fatigue upon awak-
ening rather than restoration. The use of medication to help one sleep

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