Insomnia, Sleep Apnea, Narcolepsy

Upon completing the course you’ll be able to:

1. Answer questions of your patient and dispel misconceptions about sleep.
2. Describe various phases of sleep and our body’s reaction during each phase.
3. Explain the role played by circadian rhythms in our sleep.
4. Make the connection between sleep and many diseases.
5. Define insomnia and classify insomnia associated with various causes.
6. Provide a differential diagnosis of primary insomnia.
7. Frame and ask questions to assess insomnia.
8. List 8 general sleep hygiene measures.
9. Describe the behavioral and pharmaceutical interventions in the treatment of insomnia.
10. Explain various therapeutic approaches in the treatment of insomnia, specifically relaxation therapy, sleep restriction therapy, stimuli control therapy and cognitive therapy.
11. Compare the efficacy and side effects of various medications in the treatment of insomnia.
12. Describe the effects of light, level of melatonin in the body and sleep problems.
13. Explain the correlation between the nighttime drop in temperature and sleep.
14. Explain how your bedroom environment can affect your sleep.
15. Define sleepiness, distinguish it from fatigue and describe the magnitude of problem sleepiness.
16. Describe the magnitude and causes of problem sleepiness among shift workers, adolescents and young adults.
17. Identify strategies that may help counter problem sleepiness in adolescents and young adults.
18. Define narcolepsy and list four classic symptoms of the disorder.
19. Provide a diagnosis of narcolepsy and suggest effective courses of treatment.
20. Describe restless legs syndrome and list some common symptoms.
21. Identify five causes of restless legs syndrome.
22. List three categories of drugs that are most commonly used to treat RLS.
23. Define sleep apnea, list several common symptoms, differentiate among the three types of sleep apnea and explain basic facts about sleep apnea to a patient.
24. Instruct clients concerning their children’s obstructive sleep apnea, evaluation and possible treatment.
25. Advise a patient about choosing a continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) device with the desired features and applications.
26. Help the patient with sleep apnea choose an appropriate mask and headgear.

Evaluation of Individual Objectives To assess the effectiveness of the course material, we ask that you evaluate your achievement of each learning objective on a scale of A to D (A=excellent, B=good, C=fair, D=unsatisfactory). Please indicate your responses next to each learning objective and return it to us with your completed exam.