Episode Details

What if better sleep was one of the most powerful leadership tools available to clinicians?

Dr. Laura Suttin sits down again with Dr. Melissa Milanak to explore the unique sleep challenges faced by clinicians, healthcare executives, and physician leaders. Together, they unpack how leadership responsibilities, isolation, confidentiality burdens, perfectionism, and multiple competing roles can keep clinicians trapped in a chronic state of stress. Dr. Milanak explains why many leaders operate in a constant state of "simmering" rather than true recovery and offers evidence-based tools to help clinicians reclaim restorative sleep.

This discussion examines why clinician leaders face worse sleep than frontline clinicians, linking perfectionism, over-functioning, and self-sacrifice to chronic stress, burnout, and rest. Dr. Milanak shares PMR techniques, bedtime routines, sleep triggers, personal sleep windows, and wearable tech strategies to restore restorative rest.

This episode provides actionable strategies for healthcare professionals who want to protect their well-being, improve resilience, and lead more effectively by prioritizing one of the most overlooked pillars of health: sleep.

Three Actionable Takeaways:

• Create intentional sleep triggers: Establish a consistent bedtime routine using strategies such as progressive muscle relaxation, journaling, or breathing exercises to help your body recognize when it is time to rest.
• Protect your sleep environment: Reserve your bed for sleep and intimacy whenever possible. Avoid working, scrolling, or watching television in bed to strengthen your brain's association between bed and sleep.
• Find your sleep sweet spot: Determine your ideal sleep window by identifying how much sleep you're currently getting and gradually adjusting your schedule until you consistently fall asleep quickly, sleep through the night, and wake feeling rested.

About the Show:

Designing Healthcare That Cares is where leadership meets humanity. Hosted by Dr. Laura Suttin, the show explores what happens when compassion, connection, and courage come together to transform how we care—for our patients, our teams, and ourselves.

About the Guest:

Dr. Melissa Milanak is a licensed clinical psychologist, sleep expert, founder of Mind Impact Consulting, LLC, and professor at the Medical University of South Carolina. She specializes in helping healthcare professionals, executives, and high-achieving individuals improve sleep, manage stress, and optimize performance through evidence-based behavioral strategies.

Website: melissamilanak.com

About the Host:

Dr. Laura Suttin is a physician, leadership coach, and lifelong advocate for designing systems that truly care. After years of navigating the complexities of healthcare, she realized that compassion and connection aren’t just nice-to-haves—they’re the foundation of great medicine.

Today, Laura brings that vision to life through her work as a consultant, speaker, and host of Designing Healthcare That Cares. She helps healthcare leaders and clinicians rediscover their purpose, build resilient teams, and lead with both strategy and soul.

When she’s not interviewing changemakers or guiding organizations, you can find her sharing stories that remind us all why we got into medicine in the first place—to make a difference, together.

🌐 Website: drlaurasuttin.com
🔗 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/laura-suttin-md/ 
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