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The prescribing patterns for hypnotic medications were surveyed in 765 patients of three skilled-nursing facilities and two intermediate-care facilities. Seven per cent of the patients received a hypnotic routinely; an additional 3 per cent had as-needed orders for a hypnotic medication. Temazepam, flurazepam, and triazolam were, in descending order, the three most commonly prescribed hypnotics and accounted for 79 per cent of the hypnotic prescriptions. The average duration of use for triazolam, temazepam, and flurazepam was 11 weeks, 24 weeks, and 82 weeks, respectively. Seventy-six per cent of the flurazepam prescriptions were given seven days a week; 31 per cent of these prescriptions were for 30 mg doses. Medications that were not hypnotics but did have sedative side-effects were prescribed with bedtime orders for 11 per cent of the patients. The three most commonly prescribed drugs in this class were diphenhydramine, thioridazine, and haloperidol. Possible explanations for the lower frequency of hypnotic use observed in this study as compared to the frequencies reported in the literature are discussed, as are possible hazards of high-dose and long-term use of hypnotics.