Shift guide · 13 Oct 2026 · 5 min read

Your first night as a sleep tech

You do not need to know everything tonight. You need to know your role, who helps you, and what to check next.

This is an orientation aid, not a clinical protocol or permission to work independently. Follow your lab’s policies, supervisor direction and applicable requirements.

1. Find your supervisor before the shift starts

Ask who supervises you tonight and how to reach them during a study. Find the local safety and escalation procedures together.

Confirm which tasks you may perform, which need direct supervision, and who checks your work. A checklist cannot establish your competence or expand your role.

Use this opening question: “What should I bring to you immediately, and what can wait for our review?” Write the answer in your own orientation notes, without patient details.

2. Review the study before meeting the patient

Review the verified order, relevant history and required documents with your supervising tech. Ask about anything unclear before the hookup begins.

Locate the approved documentation template and the equipment you will use. Ask your supervisor to show the checks required by your lab.

Do not guess at an order or substitute a procedure you remember from another workplace. Local policy and supervisor direction govern tonight’s work.

3. Explain what happens next

Ask your supervisor how the lab introduces the study and explains the equipment. Use plain language and give the patient time for questions.

Explain how they can request assistance and orient them to the room. If you cannot answer a question within your role, bring in your supervisor.

Your goal is not a perfect speech. It is a patient who understands the next step and knows how to ask for help.

4. Learn the signal-quality checks

Before trying to identify a stage, ask whether the channels are usable. Have your supervisor walk through the lab’s equipment and tracing checks.

Learn the local process for recognising, correcting and documenting artifact. A poor signal is not a scoring puzzle to solve by guessing.

Ask: “Which channel changed, what did you check, and what did you document?” Keep technical settings and correction procedures tied to your lab’s training.

5. Bring uncertain scoring calls to review

Agree which scoring tasks you may assist with and when your supervisor will review them. Use the current scoring manual and your lab’s approved procedures.

For an uncertain call, identify the channel and feature that led you there. Ask your supervisor to explain their call using that same tracing.

A useful question is: “What would make you change this call?” Keep study references within the approved system; never copy patient recordings into personal notes or public tools.

6. Leave a clear record and handoff

Use the approved record to document observations, significant events, changes and artifact corrections. Ask your supervisor to review your summary before the handoff.

Make unresolved questions visible rather than hiding them in a long narrative. Confirm who receives the handoff and what your lab expects it to include.

Afterward, choose 1 skill to practise next shift. “Recognise artifact in the eye channels” gives you a clearer target than “get better at everything.”

What this checklist is based on

The AAST’s role description and polysomnography guideline cover supervision, preparation, communication, signal quality and documentation. The questions here adapt those responsibilities into an orientation conversation.

That guideline concerns attended diagnostic studies; it does not cover pediatric studies, home studies or therapeutic titration. Employer requirements and local procedures still control your work.

An independent educational resource. Not accredited, not a credential. No affiliation with AAST, AASM or BRPT.

See how practice will look

Our illustrated stage preview shows the planned format for an epoch and its explanation. It uses synthetic, uncalibrated signals, not real scoring exercises.

The free 20-epoch Sample Set is not available yet. The Starter Course is also in development, with no checkout open.

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