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| September/ October 1998 Issue 5 |
Shiftworker Online | |||||||
| News
Headlines.
Canada. USA.
Weather. Canada. USA. Current Scores. from USA Today. from Sportsline. Laugh of the Day. from Reader's Digest. Picture of the Day.
This
Day in LIFE
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Welcome to Issue # 5 of the
Shiftworker Online.
Bookmark this page for easy access to News, Weather and Sports and Shift Work related information. In this issue:
Previous Issues Shiftwork and Napping Imagine this , you’re at work and it’s four a.m. in the morning . Your supervisor comes over to you and says, “I’ll look after things for awhile, go take a twenty minute nap.” Sounds impossible, not so, companies such as Calgary based Canadian Pacific Railway Company and Nova Corp. allow some night shift workers to book off and take a short nap during the middle of their shifts. The director of the Canadian Sleep Institute, Dr. Adam Moscovitch , reports, “Whether you are an executive or a housewife, if you are having trouble staying awake, napping can be good for you.” He suggests a twenty minute nap. Facts show that well rested employees are efficient employees, but 41 percent of Canadians live their lives feeling tired. (according to a 1991 Statistics Canada report). Surveys in the U.S. show that North Americans gradually have reduced their average night’s sleep from 10 hours to 7 hours a night since the invention of the light bulb in 1879. Studies have shown that most people who get less then 7 or 8 hours of sleep are more irritable, their reaction time is slower and there is an increase in mistakes made compared to those that are well rested. For those that do not get enough sleep during their normal sleeping period, naps are a solution. For shift workers the problem of staying awake is compounded by rotating shifts. Even if a night shift worker is well rested they will have problems staying awake during the night shift. Researchers at NASA have found that some pilots on overnight flights tend to drift off for short spells of sleep even when the have their eyes open. These sleeping spells are most common around 4 a.m. when our bodies would normally be in their deepest sleep. This problem is due to our body’s circadian rhythm or clock. We cannot turn our bodies off and on at will. Our circadian rhythm takes weeks for it to adjust. A shift worker is changing their sleeping times every few days which goes against our body clocks and makes us feel tired regardless of how much sleep we have had. Laboratory tests have shown that a 20 minute nap can restore functioning and alertness to almost normal levels. The night shift employees at Nova Corp. have reported that after a short nap they feel more alert and less stressed through the night.
The adoption of approved on the job nap taking is still a long way off
for most companies and their employees, as the “mind set” is totally
against the idea of “sleeping on the job”. adapted from Maclean's Magazine - Anita Elash Success - How can we measure it. Success really is how we look at things. Taking a positive attitude in all we do can bring success. Below are some quotes that will help you to define success.
“If you can dream it, you can do it.” Walt Disney
“Why go into something to test the waters? Michael Nolan
“Our Fears must never hold us back from pursuing our hopes.” John F. Kennedy
“If you don’t dream, how can you have a dream come true?” Faye LaPointe
“When one door closes, another opens; but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened for us.” Alexander Graham Bell
“Success requires 3 bones - wishbone, backbone and funnybone.” Kobi Yamada
“Never let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do.” John Wooden
“Quitting is a permanent solution to a temporary situation.” Dr. Rob Gilbert
“Some Succeed because they are destined to; most succeed because they are determined to.” Anatole France
“ Tonight, when you lay your head on your pillow, forget how far you still have to go. Look instead at how far you’ve already come.” Bob Moawad
“I cannot give you the formula for success, but I can give you the formula for failure which is: Try to please everybody.” HERBERT BAYARD SWOPE, speech (1950)
“Change can be a force to be feared or an opportunity to be seized. The choice is in our hands.” Sam Weiss
Low Fat Rocky Road Drive Home Brownies After a long shift, that drive home can be pretty “rocky”, but these brownies will definitely make the road a lot “smoother”. What you need: 4 egg whites -- whipped 1/2 cup sugar 1 tbsp vanilla 1/2 cup cocoa or carob powder -- sifted 1/2 tsp baking powder 1/4 tsp salt 1/2 cup flour 1 cup marshmallow cream 1 9”x 9” baking pan 2 mixing bowls
Preparation Method Preheat oven at 325. Prepare the 9” x 9" pan with cooking spray and flour. In one mixing bowl, combine baking powder, cocoa/carob powder, salt, and flour. In another mixing bowl, combine egg whites, sugar, vanilla, and marshmallow cream. Mix dry ingredients with wet ingredients. Bake for approximately 20 minutes. Serving Size = 8 Note: For an easy way to test if baking is completed stick a tooth pick in the middle. If it comes out clean, it's ready to come out of the oven.
That’s it for this issue. Bye for now!!! If you have any comments or questions, Please E-MAIL me at rlaird@ican.net  |