Night shift and health issues

Davey Do · Jun 11, 2017

Welcome to AN.com as a full-fledged member, shelw067!

I have found that a routine healthy lifestyle of a balanced diet, regular exercise inclusive of weights and aerobic workouts, and meeting my basic physiological needs (if you know what I mean) help me maintain my mental and physical health while working midnights.

Good luck to you, shelw067!

MunoRN, RN · Jun 11, 2017

Night shift work is a known cause of cancer, stroke, diabetes, and heart disease, so your feeling that it's bad for your health is well founded. The root cause for this generally though to be that night shift work causes increased cortisol levels and decreased cortisol levels, so there are ways of treating it's effects. In the end though, the only sure fix is to get off of nights.

**NICU Guy, BSN, RN** · Jun 11, 2017

Fatigue, depression, and brain fog is a result of lack of Vitamin D. Night shift workers sleep during the day, go to work at dusk, back home in bed at sunrise. Sunlight is the primary source of Vitamin D, so either get outside on sunny days on your days off or take a supplement.

meanmaryjean, DNP, RN · Jun 11, 2017

Night shift work is a known cause of cancer, stroke, diabetes, and heart disease, so your feeling that it's bad for your health is well founded. The root cause for this generally though to be that night shift work causes increased cortisol levels and decreased cortisol levels, so there are ways of treating it's effects. In the end though, the only sure fix is to get off of nights.

Night shift work is associated with higher risk of all the things you mentioned- it is NOT a known cause.

OP: There are lots and lots of threads around this topic. Use the 'search' box in the upper right corner to find them. MY MSN and DNP research is around this topic, and once you accumulate enough posts I'd be happy to correspond via PM.

Cactus Nurse · Jun 11, 2017

Sounds like it's just your body not adjusting well. I worked nights my entire year of nursing school and for about 8 months after that. I never had issues. My dad is a truck driver, no issues. So it might just be your body on top of the normal nurses shift stress and lack of a "normal routine".

There's always opportunities to move around in nursing. Don't let a small pay decrease interfere with your health. You have experience, you. Can find something around the same pay.

How many days a week do you work? and what is your sleep schedule on off days?

Me personally I would have my off days to normal times- out during the day sleep at night. I worked with a lot of people however who kept their sleeping the same 7 days a week. You might have to do that.

When I work NOC I always made sure to take my supplements- multivitamin, 500iu vit D, 1000mg vit c (yes extra of these 2 to help my immune system), I use black out shades in my room to help me stay asleep, I have a fan on to keep my room cool-helps to fall and stay asleep. As well as eating good and heavy meals to give me energy. My off days I really try to relax one day and the others I would try to have fun.

NOC shifts are all about balance, it takes time to adjust. If you haven't adjusted yet, it might not just be for you.

Your health is important. You shouldn't be working just feel fatigued all the time, you. An find something better. Keep looking you will find it!

Good luck my dear

MunoRN, RN · Jun 11, 2017

Night shift work is associated with higher risk of all the things you mentioned- it is NOT a known cause.
OP: There are lots and lots of threads around this topic. Use the 'search' box in the upper right corner to find them. MY MSN and DNP research is around this topic, and once you accumulate enough posts I'd be happy to correspond via PM.

Night shift work actually is a known "probable" cause, it's not just correlative. Cancer for instance was designated a carcinogen by both the WHO and the American Cancer Society in 2007, Known and Probable Human Carcinogens

Shift work is classified as Class 2A carcinogen by the WHO | IOHSAD

Heart attack and stroke were once only thought to correlate to night shift work, mainly due to the association between night shift work and poor diet and exercise. However when risk was controlled for these associated factors there was still a significantly increased incidence of heart attacks and strokes.

meanmaryjean, DNP, RN · Jun 11, 2017

Night shift work actually is a known "probable" cause, it's not just correlative. Cancer for instance was designated a carcinogen by both the WHO and the American Cancer Society in 2007, Known and Probable Human Carcinogens
Shift work is classified as Class 2A carcinogen by the WHO | IOHSAD
Heart attack and stroke were once only thought to correlate to night shift work, mainly due to the association between night shift work and poor diet and exercise. However when risk was controlled for these associated factors there was still a significantly increased incidence of heart attacks and strokes.

Correct. Your original post did not include the work 'probable'. There's a difference between 'known' and 'probable'.

Trauma Columnist · Jun 12, 2017

Moved to Health and Stress Management

shelw067 · Jun 12, 2017

Thanks for all the helpful responses!

shelw067 · Jun 12, 2017

Sounds like it's just your body not adjusting well. I worked nights my entire year of nursing school and for about 8 months after that. I never had issues. My dad is a truck driver, no issues. So it might just be your body on top of the normal nurses shift stress and lack of a "normal routine".
There's always opportunities to move around in nursing. Don't let a small pay decrease interfere with your health. You have experience, you. Can find something around the same pay.
How many days a week do you work? and what is your sleep schedule on off days?
Me personally I would have my off days to normal times- out during the day sleep at night. I worked with a lot of people however who kept their sleeping the same 7 days a week. You might have to do that.
When I work NOC I always made sure to take my supplements- multivitamin, 500iu vit D, 1000mg vit c (yes extra of these 2 to help my immune system), I use black out shades in my room to help me stay asleep, I have a fan on to keep my room cool-helps to fall and stay asleep. As well as eating good and heavy meals to give me energy. My off days I really try to relax one day and the others I would try to have fun.
NOC shifts are all about balance, it takes time to adjust. If you haven't adjusted yet, it might not just be for you.
Your health is important. You shouldn't be working just feel fatigued all the time, you. An find something better. Keep looking you will find it!
Good luck my dear

I typically work from 3-5 nights per week, 12 hour shifts. Regardless of how much or how little sleep I get, I never feel fully energized. I notice that I feel a lot better when I sleep at night and wake during the morning.

On my off days I try to switch back to a day schedule, and I end up feeling even more exhausted. I have also tried to stick to a complete night schedule on my days off but I feel as though that contributes to the depression I have developed. I live alone and don't have any family in close proximity. I have a few friends near me but we work opposite schedules so don't get to hang out much. In so many words, I feel very isolated when I sleep my day away and up all night, hence me trying to switch back to a normal schedule when I can.

Cactus Nurse · Jun 12, 2017

That's rough. I know exactly how you feel. I live in a city all alone not a single family member and like no friends. I talk to my neighbor that's it lol. But it just doesn't seem like nights is good for you. If you're developing depression and constantly tired, it's not a good way of life regardless if you had friends to hang out with or not. If you can't get to days, I'd say definitely look for another job. It's not worth it.