I have just started doing nights as a student nurse and am not getting on very well with them! Every time I finish one I start feeling so dizzy and nauseous, I don't know if its because I haven't got much sleep the day before? Then I find it really hard to sleep the day after I've done a night, because of feeling so awful! So do you just get used to doing nights, or are some people just not meant for them? I'm worried because I really want to carry on with nursing but I don't know if I can cope with nights!

Well they are not for everyone, I for one love night shift, I feel the way you do when I work days.

I love night shift, it isn't for everyone, I feel they way you do when I work days.

I worked every Friday and Saturday night, 11-7, when I was a student nurse. I couldn't have done it and tried to go to school the next day. It gave me Sundays to catch up on sleep and studying in order to be refreshed and prepared for classes on Monday.

I've always been a night owl though. My parents used to try everything to get me to go to bed at night and then it was like pulling hen's teeth to wake me up in the morning. The nursing school experience however was my first experience with working a night shift.

I had to cover my windows well to block out light in order to trick my body into sleeping well in the daytime.

I've known people over the years whose bodies are made for working nights and other folks who become physically ill with everything from nausea to constipation from being on the wrong shift for their body.

If you can stand it during nursing school, when you graduate you will have a deep understanding of what night shifter's live through and gain respect for them. Also, if you can hang in there for a while you might decide you like it. You can let your supervisor know, after a couple of months, that you've given it a good try but would like to be able to transfer to another shift whenever an opening occurs... I bet you will have a good chance since you've given the night shift a fair shake.

Good luck in all your endeavors!

Warmly,

Anaclaire

Nights are a killer for some. When I worked nights I would be so tired by the third night but when I started exercising I was able to do 4 in a row and not drag. I tried working days and I feel like when others work nights I thought I was going to die. It takes a while to adjust, then again some never. Try to hang in there and if it is too rough get a dayshift job as soon as you can. :-)

blue

i'm a new nurse, i graduated in may. i've never worked nights in my life, and i've never been a night person. i usually go to bed at 10 or 10:30!! my new job was supposed to be days, but they put me on nights. 12 hour rotating night shift! it is the most awful experience. i work all night and sleep all day. my appetite is shot (which is kinda good! lol) but i'm even tired on my days off, i can't seem to catch up and shake the tiredness. even on my days off i can't seem to wake up until like 11 or 12, and even then it is so hard to wake up. i don't think that it is just taking time to get used to, i don't think i'll ever get used to this, and i can't wait till i can work days!! i thank god for those of you who can work nights!!

I know a woman who vomited at about 3am every morning, so you are not alone. I would recommend a cool fan in the bedroom for circulation and white noise and a dose of Benadryl. It is closely related chemically to Dramamine (for motion sickness) but more readily available. Also has a sedating effect. If you wake early and can't get back to sleep try having a bite, watching TV, and then settling for a short nap before work.

At work coffee can help, but can also make you feel nauseated. I have had great luck with dishes involving tomato sauce and some cheese. I have no idea why, and neither has the dietician, but it has so consistently worked that I actually will whip up spaghetti or a grilled cheese sandwich (I eat em cold...mmmmm) when I anticipate a rough shift. Also lots and lots of ice water, make a pitcher and leave it at the desk for everyone. Good luck.

Love working nights

Have worked nights most of my life, I have always been a night person.

Best reason to work nights...NO SUITS

You can get a lot done when nobody is standing over your shoulder watching everything you do, this includes visitors as well as staff. Some patients are up at night and they just want to talkand if...if I have time I will talk with them for a few minutes, it helps them to feel better. I have had a patient sit at the nurses desk punching holes in paper for us while she talked, told us about her grandkids, it helped both of us and got her mind away from the hospital for a bit.

I have worked nights for 2 years now and love them... get to go shopping in the mornings and pay the bills and have a cafe latte al fresco etc... and it didnt figure doing days with all the vitals to do, 24 showers, 2 lots of assist feeds(Breakfast and lunch) all the daily dressings, doctors rounds and Matrons blessing *NOT!*, awake patients and argumentative relatives, AND NO SEDATION! All for less pay "Arghhhhh" believe me I soon got used to nights.

Maybe I need a holiday :roll

I get the nausea at 0400 thing. I find that as long as I eat during the shift (even if it feels wrong to eat) I don't feel this way. Just something nutritious with some protein.

I worked nights for many years and I never felt like I got any rest or

even if I did I never felt well rested. I finally went to day shift and I must say the work is alot harder but you have so much more of a life.