Burnout and Beyond - How Can I Improve my Sleep as a Health and Care Professional?Burnout and Beyond - How Can I Improve my Sleep as a Health and Care Professional?
Practitioner Health Wellbeing Podcast
Clinicians Richard Duggins and Lee David talk through why sleep so often unravels for health and care staff, and how the CALMS model can help. They discuss stress, alcohol use, shift work and CBT for insomnia, offering practical ideas to make nights more restful.
32:34•30 Mar 2026
Burnout, Bedtime and the CALMS Way to Better Sleep
Episode Overview
- Use the CALMS model (Causes, Align body clock, Link bed and sleep, Maximise sleep pressure, Soothe) to structure changes to your sleep.
- Treat sleep problems as useful data, often signalling underlying stress, burnout, mental health issues, physical illness or ADHD.
- Be cautious about using alcohol to get to sleep, as it fragments rest, worsens stress and may signal a growing problem with drinking.
- For night shifts, plan naps, caffeine, light exposure and post‑shift sleep deliberately to protect at least a small, consistent block of rest.
- Reduce nighttime worry by writing problem lists and to‑do lists in the evening, then gently reminding yourself it’s written down and can wait until tomorrow.
“It may also indicate that we're shifting into a problem relationship with alcohol.”
What happens when the people who care for everyone else can’t switch off their own brains at night? This conversation between Dr Richard Duggins and Dr Lee David digs into exactly that, zeroing in on why sleep so often breaks down for health and care professionals and what can realistically help.
You’ll hear them break down the CALMS model for sleep by occupational therapist Louise Berger – Causes, Align your body clock, Link bed and sleep, Maximise sleep pressure and Soothe – in plain, practical language. They stress that poor sleep is rarely just a “sleep problem”; it’s often a sign of something deeper like stress, burnout, depression, anxiety, physical health issues or ADHD. As Richard puts it, thinking of “sleep as data” can be a vital early warning sign.
Alcohol gets a clear mention too. Lee and Richard highlight how that “extra drink to help you sleep” can quickly turn into a vicious cycle: it may knock you out, but it fragments sleep, worsens mood, increases stress and can hint at “shifting into a problem relationship with alcohol.” For anyone in recovery – or worrying about their drinking – this honest take on alcohol and sleep will ring uncomfortably true.
They also share concrete tips: managing screens by focusing on content rather than just blue light, using audiobooks with calm voices, setting consistent “feet on the floor” times, and practising what Lee calls “fierce compassion” – being kind to yourself while still sticking to a routine. Shift workers get a detailed run-through of evidence-based strategies for night shifts, showing that some sleep really is better than none.
The episode finishes with practical ideas for managing worry at night, including writing problem lists and to‑do lists in the evening so your brain doesn’t keep poking you at 3 a.m. If your sleep is off, your stress is up, or alcohol has become your bedtime crutch, could it be time to see what your nights are trying to tell you?
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