Albany Med’s Sleep Navigator: Piloting Your Sleep Study

If you’ve undergone a sleep study at Albany Med’s Sleep Clinic recently, Crystal Charland, RPSGT was probably there to help.

A registered polysomnographic technologist, Charland is one of the clinic’s sleep technologists who monitors patients’ eye and leg movements and vitals such as heart rate and blood oxygen levels during overnight sleep studies.

In addition, Charland serves as the clinic’s sleep navigator, guiding patients through all stages of the sleep study process, whether that’s preparing them for an at-home study, processing CPAP machine orders, or attaching the multitude of wires necessary for overnight studies in the clinic.

Through it all, Charland makes a point to put her patients at ease. “It’s important for both adults and children to feel comfortable and part of the process,” she said.

Albany Med’s Sleep Clinic was recently reaccredited by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, the gold standard for evaluating sleep medicine services.

Prior to joining Albany Med in August 2020, Charland was a health care aide. “I saw firsthand how CPAP machines were able to help so many of the people who had sleep issues,” she noted. Through her work with patients with Parkinson’s disease and multiple sclerosis, she learned more about brain waves, inspiring her to go back to school to earn her RPSGT credentials.

One of the things Charland enjoys most about being a sleep navigator is working with patients from the beginning of their journey to the end. “I love seeing how a CPAP machine can help improve their daily life,” she said.

As northeastern New York’s only academic medical center, Albany Med is the centerpiece of medicine, research and medical education in our region and one of the area’s largest private employers.

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Learn more about our Sleep Clinic and services for sleep disorders.