What We Learned About Sleep, Alertness and Shift Work While Working on Project Night Owl
- Ellie Bates
- 13 minutes ago
- 4 min read
Sleep is something we all do, yet many of us know surprisingly little about how it works.
Over the past few months, we've been working with St George's Hospital Charity, Professor Stephen Lockley and a group of Sleep Champions to develop Sleep and Alertness Management for Shift Workers as part of Project Night Owl.
Like many learning design projects, we started with a simple question: what do people actually need?
The answer wasn't "more information".
Most healthcare professionals already know that sleep is important. They know that night shifts are hard. They know that being tired affects how they feel.
What they often don't have is the time, opportunity or support to understand why sleep becomes difficult, what practical changes might help, and how organisations can better support people working around the clock.
That became the foundation for the programme.
Sleep is More Than Just Being Tired
One of the most fascinating things we learned while working with Professor Steven Lockley was how much of our sleep is governed by biology.
Many people think of sleep as something we can control through willpower. If we're tired enough, we'll sleep. If we're motivated enough, we'll cope.
The reality is more complicated.
Our alertness is influenced by circadian rhythms, light exposure, sleep pressure and recovery opportunities. Shift work often places people in direct conflict with these natural systems.
For healthcare staff working nights, early starts or rotating shifts, this can create ongoing challenges that aren't simply solved by "getting an early night".
Understanding this science helps explain why sleep can sometimes feel difficult even when we're exhausted.
Fatigue Is Not Just an Individual Problem
Another theme that emerged throughout the project was that fatigue shouldn't be viewed solely as an individual responsibility.
Healthcare organisations rightly focus on patient safety, workforce wellbeing and performance. Sleep and alertness sit at the centre of all three.
Research shows that people often underestimate the effects of sleep deprivation on their own performance. Reduced alertness can build gradually over time, affecting concentration, communication, decision-making and emotional regulation.
This means that fatigue is not simply about personal resilience. It is also influenced by systems, environments and organisational decisions.
This insight led us to develop a dedicated managers' section alongside the learner programme.
The managers' section explores topics including:
Supporting recovery between shifts
Safer rota design
Reducing quick returns
Creating an alertness-aware culture
Supporting alertness through workplace design and lighting
Recognising the signs of reduced alertness in staff
One of the strongest messages from the content is that small changes can make a meaningful difference. Protecting recovery time, encouraging breaks, improving lighting and creating opportunities for staff to speak openly about fatigue can all contribute to safer and healthier working environments.
Designing Learning for Busy Healthcare Professionals
From a learning design perspective, we faced a challenge.
Healthcare professionals are busy.
Many of the people who need this information most are already managing demanding workloads, long shifts and competing priorities. Asking them to sit through hours of traditional e-learning wasn't going to be effective.
Working with Professor Lockley and the Sleep Champions, we spent time storyboarding the experience and thinking carefully about how people would engage with the content.
Rather than focusing on information delivery alone, we wanted learners to leave with a better understanding of their own situation and practical actions they could take.
The programme encourages learners to reflect on their experiences, identify areas they want to improve and build a personalised action plan they can take away and use in practice.
Building Something Different
This project also gave us the opportunity to experiment with new approaches to digital learning.
We developed a custom video experience that allows learners to navigate content through the questions that matter most to them.
Instead of watching long, linear videos, learners can explore topics relevant to their circumstances and hear Professor Lockley's responses.
The platform also recommends relevant resources based on learner reflections and supports the creation of personalised action plans.
For us, the technology was never the goal.
The goal was to make expert knowledge easier to access, more relevant and more actionable.
Technology is most useful when it helps people find the information they need at the moment they need it.
Why This Matters
Healthcare depends on people being alert, focused and able to perform at their best.
Yet many healthcare professionals work in environments that challenge the very biological systems that support those outcomes.
Project Night Owl has reinforced something important for us: improving sleep and alertness is not simply about telling individuals to sleep more. It requires a combination of education, reflection, supportive workplace cultures and thoughtful organisational design.
We're incredibly proud to have worked with St George's Hospital Charity, Professor Stephen Lockley and the Sleep Champions to bring this programme to life.
Explore the Programme
Sleep and Alertness Management for Shift Workers is now available on ELE Learn and can be accessed via web browser or the ELE Learn mobile app.
If you work shifts, manage shift-working teams or have an interest in workforce wellbeing, we'd love to hear what you think.
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