Need advice for night shift

Nurses New Nurse

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I'm starting nights next week, and I have no idea how to prepare myself for it. I'm a new grad and orientation has been on days so far. One of my friends stayed up the night before so she would be tired and sleep during the day in preparation for that night.

I'm looking for any advice/tips.

Thanks!

I've been working nights for almost 4 years now, and I can say that the big difference for me was NOT switching back to days when I had time off. I stay as a "night owl" every day, no matter if I'm working or not. As a type 2 diabetic, this became a crucial step towards helping my body not shut down on me... I'm pretty sure my CNAs wouldn't want to find me passed out on the floor somewhere! lol

And another thing, whatever you do DON'T take melatonin...it reinforces your circadian rhythm, which means you'll be even MORE tired at work and more awake when you need to be sleeping...doh!

Good luck to you :D

The above is not true. Melatonin is a great sleep-aid and have been taking it for the past 4 years working 5 days a night!

I'm a new grad and have been recently doing nights, too. I treid going to bed normally the night before my 3 12's, and trying to take a nap before work, but that didn't really work for me. I couldn't fall asleep, and was so tired around 4am. There are lots of great suggestions here. One thing that I have found, and I don't know if others feel the same, but is to eat a nice meal before work and just bring snacks for the night. I was packing a "lunch" with a sandwich, fruit, chips, etc. and within an hour of eating, I felt like I could climb into an empty bed! I started bringing fruit and granolas bars to just snack on, as I noticed th other nurses doing, and that seems to work better.

Specializes in NICU, PICU, PCVICU and peds oncology.

brittRN, I too only snack on nights. Part of my mind rebels at the thought of eating a full meal at 1 am. I usually have fruit and nuts or fruit and yogurt on my night breaks then eat a light breakfast before I go to bed. Preparing and eating a typical supper meal when I get up for work took a bit of getting used to but that's what works best for me.

Night shift loved it worked 6:30p to 7:00a 3 on 3 off rotation. Your body will need time to adjust to eating and sleep habits. You will either love it or hate it. People seemed to be more layed back on nights. I really had a lot of fun on nights not to many important people around. My sleeping habits would be 10:00am or so and wake about 4:00pm sometimes earlier. Like anything else you will just have to adjust and balance your working night life to your social life. Remember one important thing if you start to grow fangs your co-workers are not a food source so best bring snacks and things lol ( I had to Halloween and all fangs food source i kill myself at times ) these are my thoughts use them as you wish

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