Fifteen-minute consultation: problems in the healthy paediatrician-managing the effects of shift work on your health.

"You're not healthy unless your sleep is healthy"Professor William Dement, Stanford University, one of the founders of modern sleep medicineSleep is fundamental to good health. Healthcare professionals receive little teaching on the importance of sleep, particularly with respect to their own health when working night shifts. Knowledge of basic sleep physiology, together with simple strategies to improve core sleep and the ability to cope with working nights, can result in significant improvements both for healthcare professionals and for the patients they care for.