Adjusting to 3rd????

[StaceyK]

Hi. I only have 2 more semesters to go!!!!!!! One thing that has been weighing heavy in the back of my mind is how on earth I can make that adjustment to 3rd shift. (I am sure as a new grad that is where I will be for some time ) I have mostly worked 1st shift so I have no idea how to do this. So far I have been getting trained for everything but how to keep from grabbing a pillow and blanket and curling up somewhere at 3 a.m!! Help!!

Stacey

[Gompers, BSN, RN]

Hi everyone,

I would be interested to know ,after how many years a nurse can obtain a night shift schedule of 10 or 12 hours?It is my first experience as RN and I took night shift(8 hours) instead of rotating days and nights.But,I don't think I can work more than 2 years with this schedule.

Thank you for yours answers.

It's not the years, it's the hospital. There are plenty of new grads who work 12 hour shifts. You just need to find a hospital (and floor or unit within that hospital) that does 12 hour shifts for nurses.

Good luck! 3 12's on night shift is the best!!!

[joun]

Oh!I see....so next job I will certainly go for 12 hour shifts!!

Thank you very much for your advice.:)

Joun.

[oneLoneNurse]

Actually I have been working the night shift 12s now for about 3 weeks and am really liking it. The people and patients I work with are just super. And to top it off I get a nice shift diff. Now, I don't see myself doing it forever, but its a nice break back into floor nursing.

[StNeotser, ASN, RN]

I work four eight hour shifts per week. I am not the worlds best daytime sleeper but I average 6-7 hours per day. Some people can't do this. The quality of sleep during the day isn't the same as 6-7 hours at night unfortunately so I do feel tired a lot of the time and don't really do much on the days/nights I'm working. However, I do have three days off per week.

[mstigerlily]

I agree. I can't imagine coming IN at 11pm, that would be horrible. Before I know it, it's 12am and just a little bit more I take my lunch around 1am. By the time I get settled and catch up on charting, it's 3am and the night is nearly over. Here are the hard hours - 3am-5am - you MUST stay busy to stay awake. By 5am, phone starts ringing and people start stirring, it starts getting light and you realize those poor day shift nurses are just waking up and your shift is nearly over and you get to go home and sleep :) Time to close out charts and do final patient checks, etc.

Your first four hours fly by. It's easier for me to come in at 7pm than 11pm. At 11pm, everyone is going to bed and it really sucks to be leaving for work. 7pm is a little easier. And only working 3 nights a week is MUCH better than working 5 8-hour nights. You have four whole days off a week to be "normal" and sleep at night if you wish. I usually stay up pretty late so that I'm not totally screwed up.

[GooeyRN, ADN, BSN, CNA, LPN, RN]

I have terrible insomnia when working nights. But I think it is from anxiety worrying about not being able to sleep and not funtion well. There have been many nights that I went to work with no sleep. The adrenalin kicked in and I was just fine. Give it a shot before worrying too much about it. Some people do great on nights. I love the atmosphere on night shift so I continue to work it.