Night shift

Nurses New Nurse

Published

I did my first night shift 2 days ago, and I'm only just getting over it ! I feel jet lagged. I slept a couple of hours prior to my shift, and slept for about 4 hours directly after my shift. Does anyone have any tips on what works for them? I need to get throught 2 consecutive night shifts a month. Thanks for any help

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Specializes in Level 1 Trauma.

Hello, I work 3 12hour night shifts in a row. Prior to my first 12hour shift I sleep for 4 hours and go in. After I get home the next morning (I have worked from 7pm-7am) I go right to sleep. I sleep for 8 hours, thus waking up at 4pm (I go to bed at 8am after getting home). I eat and go to work. I do this for the next two days then I am off! It works. Best of Luck!

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night shifts do give me a hungover feeling and i always feel like i'm coming down with a cold.

the night shifts I do are 20:45- 07-45

I find it impossible to sleep before the first night, so i just lie in bed and try to relax for a few hours before going to work,

after the night shift i go home and sleep from 9:00 until 5:00 (or I try too, sometimes i get distrubed and stuff), then i get up eat dinner and go to work. I follow this pattern.

on my last night i get home and sleep for 3 hours and make myself get up, then i will be tired enough to sleep that night and get back into the day pattern.

will you do your nights next to each other?

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Specializes in Rural Health.

When I work nights I have to do all of them in a row, otherwise I live in a cloud of confusion for days on end. After I've done a couple, all is good and I'm fine and I get back into the routine of nights.

I don't have to do nights very often and most are my choice now rather than a requirement.

I usually sleep at least 2-3 hours the night I start back, work my 3 in a row and my final day only sleep a few hours that am when I get home....get up and try and make a productive day out of it (clean and do laundry). That night I'm tired and I go back to bed and I'm back in the swing of the day life for 4 days.

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Specializes in RN, Cardiac Step Down/Tele Unit.
Hello, I work 3 12hour night shifts in a row. Prior to my first 12hour shift I sleep for 4 hours and go in. After I get home the next morning (I have worked from 7pm-7am) I go right to sleep. I sleep for 8 hours, thus waking up at 4pm (I go to bed at 8am after getting home). I eat and go to work. I do this for the next two days then I am off! It works. Best of Luck!

Do you swap back to a day schedule after your 3 shifts, and if so how? Thanks - loving the tips as I will be starting nights in October!

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Specializes in NICU, PICU, PCVICU and peds oncology.

There are several threads on this forum and others that discuss tips for working nights. Rather than rehashing what's already been said, maybe you could do a quick keyword search and see if what you need is there. The search box is on the top right hand side of your screen.

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Specializes in RN, Cardiac Step Down/Tele Unit.

Oh believe me, I've read them all - just looking for new tricks.

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good ideas. I'm definitely giving your way a go next month. Yes - I have on average 2 shifts consecutively each month.

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That's a great idea about getting all the bad jobs over with when you're not feeling your best. All that cleaning will get done in a haze of sleeplesness! Bring on the feather duster...

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Thanks for the tip. I'm a new user, so still finding my way around the site.

There are several threads on this forum and others that discuss tips for working nights. Rather than rehashing what's already been said, maybe you could do a quick keyword search and see if what you need is there. The search box is on the top right hand side of your screen.
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I usually wake up around 11 am on the first day I am working at night. The next day I usually sleep for 5-7 hours. usually 6. I have no troubles falling asleep. The first night I worked, I felt like I had a fever and I had the chills and the shakes. No temp. though. My body just wasn't used to it. I have heard that people that have trouble sleeping go home and drink a beer or have a glass of wine and this helps them sleep. Benadryl could be helpful too.

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I'm thinking of getting a night shift job. It would be 2 in a row, a couple off and then another one (12 hr shifts). I've never worked a 12 before or a nursing job yet for that matter. I was planning on sleeping from like 9-5 and staying on that schedule as I'm a weight lifter and like to keep the body on a schedule. That may be hard though, with the sun coming in the window, day noises, phone. Plus you can't do anything if you have appointments or whatever. No social life, although I can't afford to go out anyway and my gf just broke up with me. I'd rather stay on 2nd, but nobody seems to be hiring a new grad in my area right now...

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