Night shift sleep schedule

[DreamyEyes]

Just curious, if you work night shift or you have in the past (either 11p-7a or 7p-7a), when do you usually sleep? Do you get a full 8 hours?

I'm just curious because I work nights and generally I will sleep almost as soon as I get home (around 730 or 8 am) and I wake up around 2 or 3 pm. Sometimes 4 pm if I'm really lucky. I wake up feeling rested, but I find that lately I've been exhausted all throughout my shift. I find that if I take a nap, even an hour, right before my shift it helps a TON.

I have tried to stay up later and go to sleep around noon so I can wake up closer to my shift, but that never works out. I'm so exhausted when I get home! I guess I'm not a natural night owl. I do like working nights though, because I find it is more laid back than the other shifts, most of the time.

What about you? Do you stay up and go to sleep later, or do you sleep as soon you get home? Do you sleep in one block or split up your sleep time?

[Mommy&RN, BSN, RN]

I work 7p-7a. I really try to do all my shifts together. So, if I work Sa, Su, Mo for example, I stay up late Fri. Try to get 5 or so hours of sleep. Then I lay back down between noon-1 and try to sleep until 4-5 pm.

When I get off I try to be settled in the bed at 9a and get up at 4:30-5p.

[OBJandro]

I used to work 11p-7a. When I worked nights I would come home and eat breakfast. Then I would read or watch TV for about 30minutes. I would try to get to bed by 830 or 900. Then I would sleep until at least 5pm. My Husband would usually come home at 5 so I would then get up and eat supper with him. I found that when I got really dark shades and made my bedroom as dark as possible that I slept better. I would also sometimes take a benadryl or unisom to help me sleep better. Good luck!!

[anissa]

I work 7p-7a and if our unit needs it anything in between. When I get home I get straight to bed. Sometimes I sleep until 5pm, sometimes I wake up at 1pm and just can't go back to sleep. I try to rest for 1 hour before I go back to work; unfortunately that doesn't happen as often as I would like. Yesterday morning I got home after 3 nights and actually slept for 18 ours straight.

This is my 30th year of night shift...and I know I won't last much longer. Every single shift change to evenings or even days I welcome.

[Dazglue, ADN, BSN, MSN, RN]

I get off at 6 and usually fall alseep no later than 8:30 and wake up around 1 or 2, depending on what time I fell asleep.

[AlliecatRN11]

I work 7p-7a and get home around 8:30. I relax, eat some breakfast and sleep from 9ish to around 4:30pm. On my days off I sleep a lot to catch up on the hours I may have missed during the week. Like anissa said, sometimes it's 18-20 hours. That really helps me get ready for the next time I have to go into work.

[anotherone, BSN, RN]

if i am working 7p-730a. i go to sleep any where from 4 am to 9am (depends if i worked the night before or not) and sleep until 4:30pm.

[ajt575s]

I bought a sleep mask, and it helps a TON, as does black-out curtains and Benadryl. I usually go to sleep about an hour or so after I get home, then get up at 5:00 or so.

[DLS_PMHNP, MSN, RN, NP]

Room darkening shades are a must. I also had a fan in my room to drown out "daytime" noises such as chirping birds, lawn mowers, etc.

Nocs can be very hard to get used to.. It took me several months.

On my days off, I would stay up as late as possible (0200-0300) and get up late to try to keep my body in sync.

All the best to you!

Diane, RN

[jamesy7]

Have any of you done overnights while having an infant at home? Would you have your sitter stay throughout the day?

[TheCommuter, BSN, RN]

When I was working eight-hour night shifts (10:00 to 6:00a.m.), I would sleep from 2:00 until 9:00p.m.

I now work 12-hour nights (6:00 until 6:30a.m.) and usually sleep from 10:00 until 4:45p.m. I have never needed a full eight hours of sleep to function on night shift.

[RoyalNurse2010]

Very helpful hints....starting 7p -7a shift in two weeks.