New to night shift, need advice

Nurses General Nursing

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I start my first ever night shift job in 2 weeks. It will be 3 12's a week. How should i prepare myself? Is it possible to sleep at night with my husband on my days off? Any advice is greatly appreciated =)

Specializes in Emergency.

I work rotating days and nights, here is how I do it. The day of my first night I try to take a nap in the late afternoon (1600-1800). In between night shifts I let myself sleep it out (usually about 0900-1700). After my last night I go to bed as soon as I get home and set my alarm for noon. No matter what happens I get up and go about my day, and go to bed at my usual time that evening. I feel like death for the first 30-60 mins after I get up on the last day, but otherwise the transition back to days is pretty smooth.

Specializes in PDN; Burn; Phone triage.

To switch back and forth from days to nights, you either have to have a lot of discipline like the poster above me or not need a lot of sleep. True story.

I've worked nights for over 6 years. I agree with what was posted about the nap before first shift and also I only sleep about 4 hours on my next day off that way I can sleep with the rest of the house. Not all of us that work nights are night people. It will get better, and you will find what works for you. Good luck!

I work 3 12's in a row on nights and this is how I do it...Day of 1st shift I go about my normal business and try to nap around 3 and wake up at 5:15 to get ready. I always sleep late (10 or 11ish anyhow so I'm already rested). I'm never tired that first night, you will be busy most likely so there really isn't much time to think about being tired. Morning of 2nd shift I come home and shower and am usually asleep by 9 or 10 at the latest then I wake up around 5:15 again and do it all over again. Morning of 3rd shift same deal as the other two shifts. Now the morning I finish my 3rd shift if where it starts to get complicated, I sleep all day maybe waking up when my honey gets home for a few hours and go right back to sleep until the next morning. I don't care what anyone says, you body needs at least 24hrs to recover from what you just put it through as far as your sleep cycle. I wake up the next morning around 5:30 or 6 ready to rock and roll then I go to bed like a normal person that night!

I hate night shift with a passion. Love the flow of nights but my body and mind cannot adapt. To make things worse I rotate, sometimes twice in a week. I'm 24 and feel like I'm 70.....

Here is what I do: on my first night shift I sleep/nap from about 12noon-1630..... if I'm doing to night shifts in a row I immediately go to sleep when getting off. So that is usually from 9-1630.... If I'm off that night then I'll sleep until 1300, just to have a life. I agree that it feels like death for the first few hours but it is necessary.

I miss my hubby when working nights and it is hard to go to sleep when he sleeps. I find myself staying up until 2am all by myself on my nights off.

Thanks for all the advice! Keeping my fingers crossed that I can survive =) I am really excited about the position so hopefully the adrenaline and excitement will push me through while I adjust. Time will tell. lol

I have been working nights for two years and try to work 3 12s in a row. On my first day off I sleep til 2 or 3 in the afternoon. Then usually nap between 10 and midnight for an hour or so (usually falling asleep during Leno or Fallon), then go to bed for real between 3 am and 6 am and sleep til noon. I keep this schedule pretty much on all my days off, but I'll change it if I have an early morning appt. I have found that keeping close to the same schedule on all my days works best. During spring break 2012, I tried switching immediately to days so I could spend time with my 20 year old son and he later told his granny ( my mom) "Even when mom's awake, she's asleep!". Lesson to me--give myself 48 hours to switch back to days. Although, sometimes I'm able to stay awake for about 20 hours and switch that way, but that's always an accident when it happens.

Another warning--getting hooked on caffeine. I found that it just made me more tired and craving carbs. I now take a home-made smoothie to work with lots of fruit and some kale and spinach, gave up dairy, and I haven't had to drink caffeine to stay awake for 3 months now. And, I feel a lot better. :) May not work for everyone, but it's been a great cure for the "sick and tired of being tired" routine.

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