The senior population has increased over the past decade and now, with the entry of baby boomers, it is only putting more pressure on an ever-growing dilemma of how to improve own health. Sleep is essential to a person's well-being and cognitive function. Research studies have shown that there is a significant decline in a person's cognitive function when they do not receive an adequate night's sleep. The secret to aging healthily is getting enough sleep to allow your body to heal and rejuvenate from the day's experiences and traumas. This article is a review of the literature in response to sleep and its effects on cognitive function in the elderly population, with a brief discussion of nursing implications. According to Bombois et al, 2010, sleep is defined as a “psychological process characterized by several cycles of different sleep states over a twenty-four hour period." (Bombois et al, 2010). The article describes that people with these disorders are at increased risk of “mortality, cardiovascular changes, and neurobehavioral co-morbidities.” This article describes dementia patients and also lists the different reasons that older adults may have that cause sleep disturbances through four phases, according to Hall, 1998 Rapid Eye Movement (REM) which is the most important of these REM is where the brain processes the events of the day and the body heals. Interestingly, this is also where the body's skeletal muscles become paralyzed and the only functioning muscles are the pharyngeal muscles that keep the airways open. . “A person...... at the center of the article ......action: a cross-sectional study on 2947 elderly people living in the community. American Association on Aging. Retrieved from http://www.springerlink.com.ezproxy2.library.drexel.edu/content/p87v1v3304253172/fulltext.pdfVance, D., Eagerton, G., Harnish, b., McKie, P., & Fazeli, P (2011). Cognitive prescriptions: a nursing approach to increasing cognitive reserve. Journal of Gerontological Nursing. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy2.library.drexel.edu/docview/859768514/fulltextPDF?accountid=10559#Yaffe, K., Laffan, A., Stephanie Litwack Harrison, Redline, S., Ensrud , K., Sonia Ancoli Israel, & Stone, K. (2011, August 10). Sleep-disordered breathing, hypoxia, and risk of mild cognitive impairment and dementia in older women (Vol 306, No. 6 ed., pp. 613-619). JAMA. Retrieved from http://jama.ama-assn.org.ezproxy2.library.drexel.edu/content/306/6/613.full.pdf