Nightshifters: What wakes you up while you are trying to sleep in this 9 to 5 world?

Nurses General Nursing

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  1. If you work night shift, how much sleep can you usually get during the day?

    • 9
      0 to 4 hours
    • 66
      4 to 6 hours
    • 43
      6 to 8 hours
    • 3
      more than 8 hours

121 members have participated

SmilingBluEyes

20,964 Posts

Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.

I sleep w/a box fan on, and blinds and curtains shut. the phone ringer is OFF in my room and all are warned not to wake me on punishment of DEATH...but my 3 year old does not get it ya know? It sure aint'easy and no way am I working nights forever. It will kill me.

l.rae

772 Posts

i work a funky shift in the er, 3p-3a...all the posts are right on! i like my night shift ok, but oneday...i swear i will mow the yard at 4 am

:lol2: lr

mother/babyRN, RN

3 Articles; 1,587 Posts

Specializes in cardiac, diabetes, OB/GYN.

Hardly any and most of it not good.....

Overland1, RN

465 Posts

I can usually get about six hours of sleep during the day; sometimes a bit less if there is a lot of noise around. During the summer, I keep the windows closed and the outdoor noise is suppressed quite well (except for the noise created by the local woodchucks who have to drive by with their stereo systems blasting away :mad: ). Occasionally, one of the cats (Baxter, the Bengal) decides to pounce on me and wakes me up.

Other than that, I keep the phone and EMS pager turned off (answering machine is left 'on'); this keeps the telemarketers at bay. Maybe one of those "Tele-Zapper" things would be a worthwhile investment....... :cool:

Amy ER Nurse

43 Posts

I work 12's night shift, and it never fails that the nurse manager will call to ask a question at 1130am! I get to bed by 0830. I always try to remember to turn the answering machine down, and the ringers off, but sometimes I am too tired to remember. The dogs barking in the neighborhood wake me, lawn mower next door, traveling "witnesses" ringing my doorbell in spite of the day sleeper sign on the door, bathroom breaks, and the occasional burglar alarm set off in the neighborhood wake me.

BadBird, BSN, RN

1,126 Posts

Specializes in Critical Care.

My husband calls me dollybaby, I lay down and my eyes close, even if I am in the middle of a sentence. I don't sleep as long but it is good solid sleep and nothing wakes me, including getting new siding on my house with all the banging. I guess I am one of the lucky ones.:)

pianonurse

10 Posts

I try to get a total of 5 to 6 hours of sleep during the day when I work nights. It's not always easy . . . especially when I forget to turn off the telephone ringer! My dog also wakes me up when she barks!

7-8 hours of sleep during the day...

no phone near the room

tornadic fan pointing away from me, on high

an occasional benadryl before bed

disconnected doorbell

black curtains (would use tin foil, but my wife won't allow it!)

...and some food in my stomach

5 years and counting...

dewp_63

27 Posts

:devil: I've worked nights most of my nursing career - always by choice! I love the people who work nights, and my body just won't function at 6:45 in the morning unless I've been up all night!:p

I've rarely had problems sleeping - can pretty much lay my head on the pillow and I'm out like a baby... can't sleep with the TV on - don't really need the white noise... been blessed with good genes I guess!

The thing that's really been chapping my hide is all the telemarketer calls... Yesterday, I got 4 calls between 11:30 and 1pm!!!!!!!!! Bought the telezapper - but still have to hear the phone ring. Turned off the ringer - but would still hear the answering machine click on. Can't turn off both the phones - the school has needed to call several times. Can we dump all the telemarketing companies in the sea?:chuckle Does anyone really buy anything from someone who calls? :confused: Thanks for the opportunity to vent... I can really relate to some of these posts.

p.s. I have slept through having my roofing replaced, my carpeting replaced and a new driveway being put in - so I don't know why the phone is so bad for me...

talaxandra

3,037 Posts

Specializes in Medical.

I've worked nights 9 months a year for the last seven or so years. When I was a student I never had a problem getting off to sleep or staying asleep, even though I lived in the nurses' home - in fact I overslept for work a couple of times, which did not make me particularly popular! In my old house I managed to sleep through the building of a freeway overpass, rail works, and the building of a mini-estate on the property next door. A year and a half ago I moved house, and found myself next to a school (don't ask me how I didn't notice it before I moved in!) - someone there loves the PA and between that, the children screaming loudly, and incessant hammering that sounds like someone at the front door, I'm not sleeping as well as I used to. I don't feel tired, though, so maybe it's just that I need less sleep or something.

Tara

allnurses Guide

JBudd, MSN

3,836 Posts

Specializes in Trauma, Teaching.

I usually try for 8 to 9 hours but don't always make it. What wakes me?

1. any of my 3 dogs barking (once I broke the window pounding on the glass and yelling at one of them)

2. telephone answering machine

3. the cat yowling because I shut my bedroom door and she can't get out

4. the kids coming down the hall talking and all the sound pours into my open door

5. the major cause of my being wakened: shouts of "BE QUIET! YOU'LL WAKE UP MOM!":roll

sonnie

33 Posts

How do I handle night shift? One word Narcolepsy!!!!!! It used to drive me crazy on day shift waking up to an alarm clock and all but now I just regulate my medication and sleep like a baby!

The Original Narcoleptic Night Nurse

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