Today we welcome Giora Netzer M.D., M.S.C.E., Associate Professor of Medicine here at the University of Maryland Medical Center. Dr. Netzer was trained at the great bastion of intensive care medicine, the University of Pennsylvania, where he also earned a master’s degree in clinical epidemiology. Since joining the University of Maryland Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine department he has proven to be one the greatest minds the ICU has to offer, earning him the title: Wiki-Netzer. His passion for knowledge led to his appointment as the Director of Clinical Research and has yielded a tremendous breadth of publications. Today he focuses on his true passion: how to assist family members care for their loved ones both in the ICU and in the post-ICU setting. Trust me, this is a topic that is often overlooked and one that can truly mean life or death for your patients! You cannot miss it!!

The commotion over COVID-19's direct impacts has largely drowned out alarm over its longer-term effects. But as more survivors emerge from intensive care units, a chorus of voices, many tweeting under #LongCovid, are clamoring to be heard.

Critically ill patients are known to suffer from severely fragmented sleep with a predominance of stage I sleep and a paucity of slow wave and REM sleep. The causes of this sleep disruption include the intensive care unit (ICU) environment, medical illness, psychological stress, and many of the medications and other treatments used to help those who are critically ill. The clinical importance of this type of sleep disruption in critically ill patients, however, is not known. This article reviews the literature of commonly used ICU medications on sleep, the relationship between sleep and sedation, and the literature on the biological and psychological consequences of sleep deprivation specifically as it relates to the critically ill. Finally, an integrative approach to improving sleep in the ICU is described.