Nervous about night shift

TNT_RN09, BSN, RN · Oct 10, 2015

I love night shift. Previously did day shift for 4 years and did not enjoy it. The key is to try and get all your night shifts in a row. I work fri-sun 7p-7a. I'm usually sleep by 930 & wake up at 4-430p. On my Monday off, I only take a 2 hour nap from 830-1030 & then I get up go about my day. Monday night I go back to sleep around 9-930p. You have to convert back to a regular schedule on your off days or you will miss out on life by staying on the night shift schedule all the time

dec2007 · Oct 13, 2015

I did night shift for 20+ years. I guess I'm your opposite because I am not a day person, but I am working straight days (three years now!) because my husband has always worked days, and after 36 years of marriage I thought we should see each other once in awhile. I suggest if possible that you try to stay on the same schedule on your off days (nights) as when you work. That may not be possible for you if you are married or have kids or both. If you have a family with a regular schedule, what TNT_RN09 suggested is the best way I ever found to handle your schedule. There are a few really nice benefits about working nights too: less ancillary personnel around, its quieter, few visitors, only have to talk to doctors if you call them. Good luck! Give it a little time to see if you can get used to it. :yes:

turnforthenurse, MSN, NP · Oct 14, 2015

I loved working night shift for several reasons but now I'm on midshift and I love it, only because working nights was wrecking havoc on my body. I feel so much better now that I am working during normal hours. That's me, though. There are some people who work nights their whole career.

I switched to normal hours on my days off, but I also lucked out and usually ended up with 4 days off in between shifts, depending on how I worked out my schedule. When switching back to the nightshift schedule, I would usually take a long nap during the late afternoon or something and then stay up all night and go to bed between 0600-0700. I took Benadryl to help me sleep, but only when switching back to my night schedule. Keep your sleeping environment cool and quiet. Invest in some blackout curtains if you can, or if you can't, a nice eye mask works well, too. If you have noisy neighbors you can sleep with some ear plugs but I found that to be uncomfortable. I was lucky to live in a (mostly) quiet apartment complex. Make sure your friends and family are aware of your sleeping schedule. Set your phone to silent if you can so you're undisturbed. I can't count how many times my bosses have called me during the day while I'm sleeping and they knew that I worked the night before or knew that I am working that night. >_

I would usually wake up between 1630-1700. Drink some coffee. Unwind a little and wake up. Bring some more coffee or go on a coffee run before work. After my shift, I would usually hop in the shower and then go straight to bed. Rinse and repeat.

When I'm trying to get off the nightshift schedule and back to normal hours, I would come home after a shift and sleep for a few hours, no more than 4, and then try my best to stay awake during the day. Coffee helps.

LadyBug3177 · Oct 17, 2015

All the above tips plus eat as healthy as possible. Since I don't have a family, I stay on my work schedule through my off days most weeks. I just treat each night the same as I would on dayshift with how I eat and when, etc. Try to also stay busy. If you really have nothing left to do and you catch yourself nodding off, get up and move around. Sometimes I even have to result to doing squats off and on by my 4th night. I work 4 12s in a row. It's not impossible or absolutely terrible, but I will say some are meant for nights while others aren't lol.