Depressed working the midnight shift~! Anyone else out there?

Born_2BRN · Sep 25, 2012

Do you happen to have any children? If so I only imagine how tough it is especially if they little. You would not want to miss a thing. I work day and quite frankly I like it. Despite how chaotic it can get and that 5am snooze goes off I feel the day goes faster. Some night nurses often tell me they love night and they call us super nurses because we can handle the day shift. At night it less stress and quieter. At that what they said.

llg, PhD, RN · Sep 25, 2012

Try not switching back to a "day" schedule on your off days. The human body is not meant to switch back and forth like that.

Group your nights into clumps of 2 in a row if possible. On your days off, compromise. Stay up really late (like 2 or 3 am) and then sleep in until at least noon and enjoy the afternoon and evening with your family.

anotherone, BSN, RN · Sep 25, 2012

Ive only been a nurse for 9 months so i of course got sucked into working the midnight shift (7pm-7am) and honestly i hate it! i feel like calling off everyday i work, i have lost weight unintentionally, i am always so exhausted, i never see my family, feel so depressed on days i work where i actually can cry instantly, and just have an overall poor attitude. when i was orientation on day shift, i loved it. so i know its midnights thats really getting to me. im currently on the wait list for days, but dont see anyone leaving anytime soon. i dont know what to do. i keep trying to just tough it out until a day shift comes along, but i honestly dont know how much longer i can do this. my family isnt very supportive they always say "its only 3 days a week"... which it is, but to me it is more than that because of all the adjusting. it is truly a lifestyle change. on my days off i switch back to normal schedule where i sleep at night and am up in the morning... then on 3 days i work, it is totally opposite. i have to do this in order to keep some sort of life going... just wondering if anyone else feels the same way? and how do you get by? i am trying to keep a positive attitude, but it is really hard.

Hmm, I work nights and don't live close to any friends or family and am in a rural area. Nights isn't for everyone. Switching is sometimes more of a hassle than it is worth. Most of the nurses on nights who feel this way are the ones who live alone and are far from bfs, family and friends. I rather have less or no social life than work day shift. I almost never switch unless I am going to be off for 5days or more. Even then I don't always do that. Mostly I watch television , go online or workout , work OT on my nights off. Not sure what advice to offer but to hold out for days or look for it elsewhere. In many places the list is very long and some are on it for years , in my unit most prefer to nights and no one is straight days( a few are days/evenings).

Amnesty · Sep 25, 2012

I think you should look into doing whatever you can to swap off of that shift, ASAP. Some people really love the night. I'm one of those people. If I had nothing to do with my life or my time, I'd stay up til 6 am every day, sleep til 1 or 2 pm, and be as happy as a pig in a sty. I fully intend to target an overnight 3 12's weekend hospital shift when I graduate from nursing school.

Most people are not like that. My husband is one of them. He took a job working as an overnight stocker for a company and he never got used to it. He said whenever he'd try to sleep, he felt like he was constantly in that half-awake state where you just feel groggy and achey the entire next day, like you haven't actually slept. It completely changed him from this super sweet person to a grumpy intolerable mess who didn't want to be around anyone and was utterly miserable.

You sound more like him than me, and the only thing that saved his sanity and our marriage was him getting off that blasted overnight shift. Definitely don't try to "stick it out". Look around for another job and talk to more people at your current one about how necessary it is for you to switch to day shift. No one should have to be that miserable :hug:. I feel for you.

ashleyisawesome, BSN, RN · Sep 26, 2012

ughh i feel for you.. im about to start orientation for my new job. i got hired for evenings, my favorite shift! but there are no evening preceptors so i have to orient on 12 hour nights for 8-10 weeks. i am seriously dreading it. im hoping people post some good tips on how to survive night shift, because im a sleepy, sleepy person and i know its not going to be easy for me..

i plan on just sticking to the night schedule for the most part on my days off, and bringing a lot of coffee with me. thats all i have in ways of advice. here's to hoping a day shift position opens up for you in the near future! :shy:

loriangel14, RN · Sep 26, 2012

I work all three shifts but if I am on a few nights I don't switch over when I am off, I just stay on the up all night/sleep all day pattern.

hopefull1 · Sep 26, 2012

I feel for you. I've been told the night shift is the best place to start and learn, but I am starting days on a busy Tele unit. Has any other LVN's out there started on days and survived orientation to become a solid member of the team?

c2brn7 · Sep 26, 2012

I've been at my job 6 months now, med/surg cardiac, I work 7p-7a and love it. I didn't think I could adjust to the sleep schedule but I'm so tired when I get off that there's no problem going to sleep. I did days for two months during orienting, it was fine but there was way to much drama. Don't get me wrong, there can be drama at night but there aren't as many people pulling you in so many different directions. My work is quite a drive, over an hour but it's a peaceful drive that gives me the chance to collect my thoughts before I get home. I hate that the drive is so far but right now I have no choice. When I go to bed, I turn down the a/c, put ear plugs in, wrap a t-shirt around my eyes/head and sleep for about 5 hours. I'm spoiled, when I wake up, someone (husband or daughters) usually makes dinner and even though it's 4:30 pm, they will eat with me. My family is very supportive and told me from the beginning that they can handle the house for 3-4 nights that I work. I thought long and hard before taking this job and talked it over with my family. I don't try to stay on the schedule when I'm off, I just do what comes naturally and let my self sleep. I try my best to work my days in a row so I can have at least 4 days off in a row. I go to bed early the night before I go back, get up early and enjoy a little of the day, then take a nap before work. The nap before work is a must.

I like the pay on night shift. If I went to days, I would lose $1000 a month.

No one is the same, what works for one doesn't always work for another. Good luck!

Guest343211 · Sep 26, 2012

Listen, working nights is hard on your body, and it sucks. But if you don't have any other compelling responsibilities, suck it up, unless you can get another position.

Seriously, there are tons of nurses that would love to have job, even if it is on sucky night shift.

Get room darkening shades or curtains. Get as much sleep as you can--that is, night shift people in my view may need more sleep than day shift people. It just means you lose more of your available day time--and that does suck, but it beats getting ill.

Try to exercise in the am before bed, if that works for you--or when you wake up.

You have to make certain adjustments when you work nights. You have to take extra care of yourself--take the right kind of supplements, eat right. If you can, at work, try to expose yourself to as much light as possible. This can be tough b/c of the patients and making adjustments for their sleep, etc.

The biggest thing for me is to keep very busy at work when on night shifts. I prefer to work my butt off rather than for things to be slow. That's when it gets tough IMHO.

Take B complex or eat food high in b's proteins, and antioxidants, but not before you go to bed. Eating carbs before bed can help sleep.

Ask your doctor about something to help you sleep, or consider taking a good herbal supplement for sleep. I take one that comes from Italy, and it's great. But the exercise helps me too.

For God's sake, turn the phone off, and keep things as quite as possible. Get white noise maker if you have to--a fan can work well.

Keep the pets quiet.

People have to respect you sleep time, and if you don't, you have to go elsewhere to get the proper sleep so that you can function.

It's almost like this: When people work nights, they have to treat their bodies like they were pregnant--that is, take extra special care.

Finally, try to work like three days in a row and then at least two days off. You will be sleeping or need to, at least part of your first day off. The second day is when you have to get other things done. But try not to sleep all day on your first night off, unless you really need to, or you are afraid you might be coming down with something.

You have to change your environment and your world to some degree so that you can optimally help your body out. Shift differential only compensates for the toll on your body a tiny bit IMHO.

I think nights should get no less than 40% shift differential. LOL, but hospitals don't care how much of a toll the shift takes on your body. Either that, or if you work nights, you should have to pay no contribution on your health insurance benefits--but they won't allow this either--if they are smart, they know that it puts you at higher risk for diseases to work nights--so that means your healthcare expenses could end up being higher.

Got to love nursing. This is the kind of thing that makes me say that nurses are wage slaves.

Just take care of you and start looking on your off days if you think you won't make it past the year.

Good luck.

beckmul1974 · Sep 26, 2012

I just started nursing about 9 months ago, as well. The majority of my shifts are night shifts - although for the most part I choose these shifts. But, I like you am having a lot of the same problems - depression/anxiety, not getting enough sleep, being cranky, etc. I never seem to be able to get anything done around the house. I am now questioning whether I have chosen the right career!

MJB2010 · Sep 26, 2012

Night shift is tough! It is isolating, and you become a bit of a shut in. You need to try to make friends with your fellow night shifters, this saved me! Some people are just not made for night shift. Some people can tolerate if for years and then suddenly it changes. For me it was always a struggle. But sticking to the schedule on my off days helped my body and physical self to adjust. I also took a multivitamin. The social/ loneliness part was a lot harder to handle. I felt very alone and had no one to talk to. Once I formed a circle of fellow night shifters, I had people I could text, email, catch a movie with, or just call when I needed to it really helped. Now I am getting to the point where I kind of enjoy the night shift. It really is a trade off, if you are willing to adjust and make the night shift work, it can open you up to a lot more opportunities. And although the night shift is busy, it has a lot less noise than the day shift. I like having less family members to wait on. I also like that I do not constantly have doctors shouting orders at me as they walk off. There is just too much traffic on days.

My husband makes a point to hang out with me on my days off. I usually sleep from 10-3 or 4. Then I get up, shower, get dressed and have some coffee while he has dinner. Then we either go do errands or watch some tv. But we spend a little time together every day. It helps. ANd when I have a few days off, I make an effort to get some fresh air.