Adjusting to night shift

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I have been on night shift for about a month now and I really do like it compared to day shift. My problem is on my days off all I want to do is sleep. No problems with this the day prior and the day after but how to I gear myself up for the "normal" days?

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Specializes in NICU, ICU, PICU, Academia.

There are multiple other threads devoted to this topic which I recommend you search.

I only sleep 3-4 hours on my turnaround day - make myself get up a little after noon, drink a pot of coffee, shower and get active physically. I don't do anything requiring thought or decision-making (paying bills, home repairs) and crash back into bed about 9pm.

I did my MSN thesis about night shift stuff.

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Specializes in geriatrics.

That wouldn't work for me. Obviously, it depends on your lifestyle and preference, but I find flipping to be harder on my system.

I maintain a permanent night schedule, including days off. If I need to be up early, I will be, but generally I'm not up before 1530. There's nothing I can't do at night that I would during the day. I'm really not a day person, so this is no problem.

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Specializes in NICU, ICU, PICU, Academia.

I would TOTALLY stay on a night schedule if not for the hubs, the four kids, church and my other job! It really is better for your body.

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when i was on nights i MAINTAINED that schedule with a slight modification; on days off i went to bed at 3AM and got up at 11AM, BUT i usually had to take a benadryl to make myself go to bed at 3am, which is not good. i eventually found a day job.

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Specializes in Orthopedic, LTC, STR, Med-Surg, Tele.

Make yourself get up! The mistake I made when I started on nights was thinking that I should just sleep whenever I felt like it. Once I set limits I got into a routine and now I flip back and forth between night and day sleep schedules w/o a problem.

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