[danissa]

I agree..keeping busy is the key to staying awake. Also eating small, light meals, walk around, tidy up or clean out cupboards or the dug trolley, if work is slow. any activity that involves moving around.
I have found night shift to be the absolute worst time to try to study anything! Head in a book, and Mr Sandman jumps on your eyes!!!! Even if you were wide awake two mins beforehand!
And find a sleep schedule that works for you..everyone is different. Some go to bed as soon as they come home, but I get home at around 08.15..take the kids to school, do some housework, and by half past ten I go to bed. I sleep right through to 5pm, get up, shower and eat breakfast and leave for work again at half past six. That works for me!
You will find what works best for you! Good Luck!

[mom4josh]

Originally Posted by danissa

I agree..keeping busy is the key to staying awake. Also eating small, light meals, walk around, tidy up or clean out cupboards or the dug trolley, if work is slow. any activity that involves moving around.
I have found night shift to be the absolute worst time to try to study anything! Head in a book, and Mr Sandman jumps on your eyes!!!! Even if you were wide awake two mins beforehand!
And find a sleep schedule that works for you..everyone is different. Some go to bed as soon as they come home, but I get home at around 08.15..take the kids to school, do some housework, and by half past ten I go to bed. I sleep right through to 5pm, get up, shower and eat breakfast and leave for work again at half past six. That works for me!
You will find what works best for you! Good Luck!

I hate to get off track here, but...

what the heck is a "dug trolley"???

[danissa]

Originally Posted by mom4josh

I hate to get off track here, but...

what the heck is a "dug trolley"???

OMG! RED face!! Spelling! i did mean DRUG trolley!

[pebbles]

We have a walking track at the hospital, it's near the physio department and the security office. 11 laps = 1 mile. So I bring my iPod, and go walking on my breaks. It gets my blood flowing, and helps me stay awake. Plus, cranking up the music and just rocking for half an hour or so is more of a "break" than sitting in any staff room or cafeteria could ever be!

[Dalzac]

I worked nights for close to 30 yrs. The most important thing was learning to sleep in the daylight. Now I am retired and the best sleep I get is still during the day. When I worked 8's I would go to bed around 10-11 am get up around 5 cook dinner for the family spend time with them and take a nap for a couple of hours and then go to work.
When I worked 12's, I would get home around8 and go to bed around 9am start dinner and let the dh finish it and go to work around 1815.
when I go to bed the phone is turned off and I have a sign posted on the door saying daysleeper When the kids were little I took them to daycare and picked them up around 1600 I had to have my phone on for emergencies I had a girlfriend that would call me every single day to chitchat until I stared calling her at 0300 to shoot the breeze. I quit drinking coffee around 3 am so I could go to sleep. It takes some figuring out what works best for you. I loved working nights that after a couple of years I stayed on at nights. It's quiet, no interns and residents taking and keeping your chart, I just got more don at night than I ever could on days or evenings.

[grace90]

I drink orange juice when I have it with me, that helps perk me up. I've been on nights 3 years. I agree with a lot of the previous posts. Guard your sleep, keep moving during your shifts when possible, and drink lots of water if you can. I only drink coffee as a last resort, if I'm so tired that I start computer-charting in my sleep.

[mrod]

I am not a coffee drinker but I drink an energy drink called High Velocity sugar-free, it is like Redbull but less calories and carbs. I drink it around 1 or 2 in the morning. I do not feel jittery or run down when it leaves my body. This is the same stuff I will drink on a workout day as well.
If you are a good sleeper than you should not have a problem. I can sleep anywhere, in cars, on an airplane, on a picket fence if I needed to. I sleep as soon as I get home. Then on my days off I sleep until 1 the latest and go to sleep normal time around 10 or 11 that night. If I have to do another 12 the next day I sleep as long as possible, around 3 or 4. If it is my first night on, I sleep as long as possible in the morning and I usually cannot sleep again before going in but I mope around and take my time unless I am out.
You will find what works for you, I love nights.

[SmilingBluEyes]

Getting good sleep is critical.

Good diet essential.

Exercise necessary.

And, keeping busy kept me awake w/o a problem.

GOOD LUCK!

[everthesame]

I too find that orange juice perks me up. Same thing with moving around. Caffeine also perks me up, but I have to stop drinking it around 0100 or it will keep me up later when I need to be sleeping.
As others have said, guard your sleep time during the day. It is amazing how some people think that since you are home during the day you are available to talk on the phone or go out to lunch, etc... Some people don't seem to understand that you have to sleep during the day since you don't get to sleep at night...at work.
Good luck in your new position.