Night shift sleep patterns?

Nurses General Nursing

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Specializes in LTAC, ICU, ER, Informatics.

I did a thread search about this, and most of the threads about nights seemed to be talking about how great/awful nights are, and challenges with management about nights. I'm looking for anecdotes about how the rest of the night shifters out there manage their sleep, particularly on their days off.

I have, my entire life, been a night owl. Left to my own devices, I would be awake until 1-3am and sleep until noon-3pm. 20 years ago when I was a 9-1-1 dispatcher, and when I was doing my paramedic rotations, the 7p-7a shift was a DREAM for me. I LOVED working nights. It fit my personal sleep schedule perfectly, I never had to struggle to get doctor's appointments, dental work, shopping, etc. during the day.

Now, 20 years later, I'm afraid nursing school broke me. I have been in Corporate America for the last 18 years and always struggled with early a.m. meetings and such, and counted myself lucky that as an I.T. geek they were tolerant of me rolling in at 9:30 or 10am since I'd frequently be up all night tending to server issues. Nursing school changed everything for me. I had to be up at the crack of dawn to make those 6:30am pre-conferences before clinicals, and my lectures all started at 8:00am. I started rolling my sleep time earlier and earlier in the evening, and started waking up before my alarm went off.

Still, I dreamed of getting back to nights. After about 6 months at my first nursing job (LTAC ICU) they had a night opening and I gratefully switched. The first couple of months were heaven. I stayed up all night even on my nights off, would get my kiddo off to school and then sleep most of the day. It felt like coming home. I dropped 12 lbs my first 6 weeks on nights just because my meal patterns were more healthy.

Lately, though, I've found myself unable to stay awake on my nights off, and end up having to "flip" my schedule the day before I work again. I seem to gravitate toward a "normal" day schedule now. I really like working nights - different pace, management isn't around, better teamwork - and don't want to go back to days. I had always thought that if I didn't keep up my night schedule on my days off, that it would be harder on my body. In chatting with a few co-workers, I've found that each has their own approach to sleep patterns on their days off and before work shifts. I'd like to get more insight into what works and doesn't work for other people so I can experiment a bit and find a pattern that works for me.

I'm also interested, as a side note, in research about sleep that looks at people who are not hard-wired day sleepers. I have found that most of the sleep research says that night shifters are doomed to be overweight, overtired, have heart problems, and die earlier. My personal thinking on this is that it might be true for people who are hard-wired for days, but some of us have been night owls since infancy, and I would think our experience would be different.

Thanks in advance for info/insight. :)

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You have probably read my posts about working nights and sleep....don't know what new things to say.

I worked nights 17 years. I think I was hardwired to work days. Usually sleepy by 9 PM, usually awake early, (prior to nursing.)

I never had trouble working nights, I never tried to keep the same sleep schedule on my days off. Usually felt fine.

I firmly believe menopause (or just getting older?) affected my sleep. Suddenly I only slept 2 hours and that was it. (Never had hot flashes.) I changed to day shift, no change in my sleep. Went through years of various sleeping pills to no effect.

Mentally hated that I slept so lousy until it dawned on me that when I slept 6 or more hours there was no guarantee I would feel great that day. When I slept 4 (or less) hours there was no guarantee I would feel lousy that day. I stopped looking at the clock, stopped counting the hours.

I still hate it when I have 4 - 5 bad nights in a row, but that rarely happens.

I am 62, good health, good weight, take one BP pill that gives me good control. I think I am luckily hard wired for good health and good weight. My family consists of mainly long lived healthy people.

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Specializes in psych/dementia.

Another night owl checking in! I do registration in an ER on night shift and was full time until nursing school started. I just slept when I needed to on my off days. If I was tired, I slept. No schedule was kept or not kept. If I had gotten on a more day schedule, I make sure that I get at least a couple hours of sleep before getting up for work. I've gotten up at 3 pm and was fine through my 12 hr shift.

I cannot wait until nursing school is over. Hoping to find a night shift job. Days are just horrible.

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Specializes in Aesthetics, Med/Surg, Outpatient.
Another night owl checking in! I do registration in an ER on night shift and was full time until nursing school started. I just slept when I needed to on my off days. If I was tired, I slept. No schedule was kept or not kept. If I had gotten on a more day schedule, I make sure that I get at least a couple hours of sleep before getting up for work. I've gotten up at 3 pm and was fine through my 12 hr shift.

I cannot wait until nursing school is over. Hoping to find a night shift job. Days are just horrible.

I work in ED xray and to be honest with you, I am nervous about starting clinicals while working this shift. I only work on the weekend but I simply CANNOT fall asleep (85%) of the time prior to my shift on Friday night. The lack of sleep is beginning to make me detest this shift. Dont know how you guys did it for so long

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Specializes in Critical Care.

Night owl since birth. I've been on nights since April. I started out flipping my schedule, but I would nearly pass out at odd times throughout the day, so I stopped, and now I keep a night schedule at home. I like it, but it is difficult to make appointments and I'm much less social. I'm never really tired, though. And I haven't gained weight, although I'm not as muscular as I used to be as I don't go to the gym as frequently. But I usually skip ordering out or just get a salad when my night shift colleagues do so. I would prefer to be able to flip at least somewhat, but it just doesn't happen for me. So if I have to get up at noon or 1 for an appointment, that means I only got 3-4 hours of sleep total. And heaven forbid I have to get up at 8 or 9 am, I am one p.o.'ed camper.

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Specializes in Home Health (PDN), Camp Nursing.

I just let my body do what it wants on my days off, although I also keep to schedule by rarely taking a day off. I usually work 28 days out of the month, only 8 hour shifts though. I think l am just built for nights. I loose weight, need less sleep, and feel better when I'm up all night. I think it's a hereditary thing. My dad did nights for 20 years, and his dad did nights as well for a large part of his career. Granddad lived to 85. Dad is sick but not with any of the stuff usually tied to night shift.

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I usually work 3 night shifts in a row. The night before my first shift, I sleep like I normally would. I go to bed at around 10 and I sleep till about 10 the next morning. I work that night, sleep from 8-4 between shifts. The morning after my last night shift, I sleep about 4 hours. That night, I go to bed like normal, around ten.

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I just listen to my body and sleep when I want to (except when at work of course). Usually, if I worked the night before and I have to be at work again the next night I just sleep during the day and go back in. If I have the next day off I'll sleep only from 8a-noon then stay up until 8-9pm and go back to sleep, which puts me back on a day schedule. Doing that is great if you have 2-3 days off in a row so that you can treat 1-2 of those days as a "normal" day and get some errands or cleaning done.

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Specializes in Hospital Education Coordinator.

the trick for me was to keep as close as the same schedule as possible on the days I did not work. I trained friends and family not to call (they could not keep up with my schedule) till after 3 pm. I stayed up all night on my days off. I got groceries at 0200 - amazingly enough, you have the place to yourself. No doubt about it, there is a lot of adjustment

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Specializes in L&D.

This is what I do. I work 7p-7a. I get home by 815a and am in bed by 830am and sleep until 345p when the kids get off the bus. If I have one day off and go back to work the next day, then I will try to stay up all night and then go to sleep at 630am when the kids get on the bus. But often on that one day off, I fall asleep in front of the tv at 8-9p and take little 30min cat naps until midnight. I'm not sure why, but I just feel exhausted! I don't have that problem if I work that night though.

If I happen to have 2 nights off, then after getting up at 345p, I will go to bed by 10p-midnight, and get up in the am to get kids ready and on the bus, and then I will go back to sleep until 10-11 if I can. Sometimes I can't and will be awake. if I can't go back to sleep I do try to take a nap later in the day. Then I stay up all that night so I can sleep the next morning until that afternoon.

It seems to work OK for me.

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I usually work 3 night shifts in a row. The night before my first shift I sleep like I normally would. I go to bed at around 10 and I sleep till about 10 the next morning. I work that night, sleep from 8-4 between shifts. The morning after my last night shift, I sleep about 4 hours. That night, I go to bed like normal, around ten.[/quote']

I have a very similar strategy. The day before my first night shift I try to sleep until 11am, work 7p-7a for 3 nights in a row, and my first day home after my 3 night stretch I sleep from about 8a-1p. My first night home I go back to sleep around 11p and I flip back to a day time schedule while off work. I usually do ok with this. Some nights at home I have a difficult time staying asleep, but melatonin and Benadryl on occasion seem to help! You just have to experiment and find what works for you.

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Specializes in Inpatient Oncology/Public Health.

I work 3 8 hour shifts(Thursday/Friday/Saturday) and care for my 2 young kids the rest of the week. So I flip flop. I usually don't sleep extra on Thursday except after they're in bed so 7p- 9pm. Work that night. Friday I sleep 9a-3p, get up and go to appt then dinner and bedtime for kids then sleep 7-9p again. So about 8 hours total. Work that night then sleep 9a-3p again, 7p-9p. Sunday I sleep 9a-3p then go to bed normal time Sunday night(10p). Monday-Wednesday I'm on day hours then start over again on Thursday.

My kids are very early risers(6a) and I have to drive them around on my days off. So I don't think I could keep a night schedule at this point.

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