You might be a night shifter if... - page 5

Your "For Sale" ads say, "Call during Unreasonable hours."

On your off days, you wonder: "Why are my pets sleeping all day long?"

You would rather be beaten than go to Wal*mart during peak hours, and instead haunt the store at 3-4am.

You make it home barely able to think, so sleepy, shower, lie down, and BAM!!! Your eyes ate wide open, so you see who Dr. Phil is berating today

Why not just make 10 louder?

I've slapped my face, got out and walked, let window down, chewed gum, and tapped in sync w/music- all while intermittent dosing. But that was mainly getting used to day shift- where I am hypersensitive to light and sound until around lunch

I would walk outside during the day sometime and shield my face from the overwhelming light, and think,...what is night shift doing to my body. Once on a flight arrival to a Hong Kong UMC Clinic, I was ready to go, the other nurses looked like Zombies- I was bright eyed and bushy tailed

Now watch this thread slow down as the night shifters bed down, and day shifters come in and yell at all the comments about dayshift

You eat lunch at 3 in the morning.

When you have to deflect comments from others about how "you sleep all day".

But this one goes to eleven!

So true, its almost bed time.

First I must give props!...Absolutely LOVED the poster who commented about caring for residents for a month and never having actually SEEN them...I work acute inpatient psych...we have clients here for about a 7-14 day stay, on average. Many are awake-off-and-on during the night. Those I get to know. Very well. The clients who actually SLEEP? I NEVER get to know them...Now; I can still tell you EVERYTHING about their labs/daily med regiment/behavioral-issues/physiological issues/interdisciplinary care plans...and on and on, but...if I had to pick one out of a police line-up? Impossible.

Second..."Night-shift-related-daytime-activity-embarassment"---let me elaborate:

This is the embarassment that washes over me each time I am standing before my mail-delivery-woman; having answered the doorbell in my "pajamas" (my husband's work shirt, a pair of his boxer briefs, combined with multi-colored, striped, flannel knee socks and an unmatching flannel robe), mascara streaked around the eyes a-la-racoon-style, at 2 PM, (because I was finally able to fall asleep at 11:30 am after working a 12h night shift and not getting home until 8:30am), and there she is, THE MAIL LADY... perfectly primped and irritated as she is awaiting the necessary signature on the package she has been trying to deliver for five minutes whilst ringing my doorbell incessantly (the ONLY reason I even woke UP to see who was there in the first place!)

She is staring at me as I squint without my glasses and with sleep in my eyes at the tiny "sinature" line, wondering if I am even signing with the correct end of the pen. As this is taking place, she is naturally trying to ascertain if A) I am an alcoholic in the middle of a binge, B) am merely unemployed, or C) both...

I have finally, somehow, managed to sign the form, and she has handed me the package, and I suddenly begin, like a truly-mad-person, calling out to the backside of the mail-lady, as she rapidly descends my driveway..."Um, miss? I'm sorry! It's just that I'm a NURSE! (Yah, she's gonna buy THAT!) Um, I work NIGHTS?? ...You know...Like, I just woke up when I heard the doorbell...It's my "nighttime" is all--it isn't like I'm a crackhead sitting at home all day!" (Which at this point is SURELY doing a WHOLE lot to reassure her of the fact that I am mentally "intact") So many crackheads sitting at home all day are readily admitting to such, right? Thus, making my commentary that much more believable...I have just sunk to a loooow level... Why must I find this situation SO aggravating and embarrasing! Just CLOSE the DOOR and go BACK to BED...This is my mantra...tends not to work so well ...

And me being, well, ME...I have approximately NINE additional, similar "scenarios" I can share anytime, as I am sure you all do as well! But darn it if I wouldn't give up my night shifts nonetheless...15 years and counting! AND my husband, my mother, my friends, my riding trainer (horses)...everyone would no doubt PAY me at this point to work day shift, just to make THEIR lives generally "easier"!...but my staff on nights is my family, and I love the shift...it's where ALL the GOOD STUFF HAPPENS!! Nope, I am a NIGHT NURSE TO STAY!

You haven't seen your boss in 2 months...and that's ok!

After 20 years on nights, having trnsitioned to days for ten years, you still pull all nighters when you really have to crank out the work glad for the night time solitude.

Your best friend on nights is town nightshift policeman willingly sharing your cofeepot, especially after returning escaped geriatic Houdini.