Vital Signs

Nurse researcher helps cancer patients battle fatigue

Imagine being tired when you first get out of bed and not having energy throughout the day.

For most women undergoing chemotherapy for breast cancer, sleep problems and fatigue are roadblocks to being an effective wife, mother, friend and employee. It is so daunting for some that they end their cancer treatment.

When Ann Berger, Ph.D., and other health professionals looked for advice to help patients, they found few answers. Health care professionals and patients alike accept sleep problems and fatigue as unavoidable side effects of chemotherapy.

But data collected from Dr. Berger’s $1.5 million National Institutes of Health grant -- the first study of its magnitude -- showed that sleep therapy can improve sleep quality during and after chemotherapy without the use of drugs. Health care professionals across the United States now use information from the study to help their patients get more sleep.

“Improving sleep quality is important because it affects quality of life,” said the UNMC College of Nursing professor. “Even after treatment is completed, 33 to 40 percent of women report persistent sleep problems that interfere with their life.”

Laura Navin of Omaha still benefits from the study. “I was up and down like a yo-yo,” she said. “Not only did it help me go through chemotherapy, but it also taught me better sleep practices. The sleep intervention gave me more energy for my busy lifestyle.”