An all time low for a new night shifter

[beeker]

I am a new to the night shift and not adjusting well. I have been on night shift since February. The other day after a very long shift, followed by a staff meeting, followed by a traffic filled commute home it happened. I woke up with a slice of pizza stuck to my face. I literally fell asleep at the kitchen table. In my pizza. I am thankful I was too tired to warm it up or the outcome may have been bad.

I am really trying to make this shift work. I am trying to stick to the night schedule on my days off. But I feel like all I do is work and try to sleep. And if I ever get a few days off in a row, all I do is sleep. I was off this weekend, I slept 12 hours each day. On work days, I rarely get more than 4-5 hours of sleep between shifts. On days off, I can't do anything with my family. I am tired all the time.

I have never been a coffee drinker, or soda drinker. Now I am drinking coffee on my days off in an attempt to stay awake to interact with my family. Nothing helps.

Please tell me this will get better. I really like my job, but I am not sure how long I can keep this up. And to make matters worse, I was told when hired that whenever a day shift opens they offer it to us night shifters first, but they just hired 2 new grads that are going to be on days. Now a bunch of coworkers are giving their notice and I am feeling hopeless of ever getting off of nights.

[NoviceRN10]

I do not try to stay on the night schedule when I am off, I have a husband and four kids and that just wouldn't work well for any of us. I would try different sleeping/napping schedules and tweak it to what works, or at least works better. I am lucky that I am currently working just two shifts a week, and usually back to back. My first year working nights full time almost killed me. I was depressed, tired, in a funk, and useless at home. I would not like the pace of days and don't want to pay for childcare so I am stuck working nights for a while.

[Ruby Vee, BSN]

evidently the way you're doing your sleep/wake thing on night shift isn't working for you. staying up all night on my nights off doesn't really work for me, either. different things have worked at different stages in my career. what's working these days: the night before my first night shift, i stay up as late as i can comfortably manage -- allnurses.com works great for this -- and go to bed sometime between 2 and 4 am. i sleep until noon or later -- it takes ambien to do so. when i was younger, benadryl worked, but not in the past 7 or 8 years. i get up sometime after noon -- whenever i feel like it. i don't make any appointments for that day. after work, i come home, eat breakfast and sleep until 4.

on my first day off, i eat breakfast, go to bed, and sleep until i feel like waking up. (don't make any appointments that day, either, unless it's unavoidable.) go to bed when my dh does, take ambien and sleep. then i'm on a modified day schedule -- sleep until 10 or so, go to bed sometime after midnight. i think the key is the ambien, and prioritizing getting sleep over everything else.

my dh gets up at his usual time his first day of night shift, runs around getting things done, and then at noon or 1 pm he takes an ambien and sleeps until 5 pm. goes to bed after breakfast, sleeps until 5 pm. on his first day off, he sleeps until he wakes up, then goes to bed at 10 or 11 pm. it works for him.

you may have to keep trying new things until you find what works for you. good luck!

[Esme12, ASN, BSN, RN]

See your family doctor. You may have shift work sleep disorder....there are treatments an dmeds tha twil help as well.

Shift Work Sleep Disorder-Topic Overview

[Shiner1]

Have you ever considered or do you have the option to go 6 on/ 7 off? I find this to be tolerable because I do not have to flop between first and third shift schedules all the time. I convert back to the 1st shif schedule on my week off.

[anotherone, BSN, RN]

Please tell me this will get better. I really like my job, but I am not sure how long I can keep this up. And to make matters worse, I was told when hired that whenever a day shift opens they offer it to us night shifters first, but they just hired 2 new grads that are going to be on days. Now a bunch of coworkers are giving their notice and I am feeling hopeless of ever getting off of nights.

I have been on nights or rotating for almost 2 years now and it never changed. Sometimes are better than others. Some weeks all I do is sleep. I do not have any family or other obligations that would require me to stay up to do. But is does suck alot. I can stay up on nights off mostly, but not much to do at 3 am but watch tv. I feel like I have no life but work and sleep. If you want days, make sure your manager knows.

[suanna]

There are lots of threads on adapting to nights. I've posted on a few myself- do a search and I'm sure you will find a wealth of information. The short of it is- for most people this is very difficuly for a few mos, then hard for a few mos, then bad off-and-on for a few mos- then they go to days. In some areas of the hospital you may have to wait years to get a day turn position, but if you find after 3-6mos you are just not adapting despite following the tips you will find throughout AN, you may be better off taking a day position in an area you don't want to work, rather than continuing on nights in a specialty you want to pursue.

[Good Morning, Gil]

While I haven't ever fallen asleep in my food lol, I hear you. Night shift hasn't gotten any better for me, and I've been doing it close to 2 years. Some people are night shift people, others aren't. I do great at work, never tired, and can sleep in between shifts just fine. I just can't switch back and forth b/w a day and night schedule on days off....I do it anyway, though, just b/c I want to be awake on my weekends off, not sleeping till 4 pm lol.

Best of luck to you! Hope you can get on day shift when it opens up.

[tothepointeLVN, LVN]

Ever been so tired that you accidentally poured your self a nice bowl of crunchy cat food with milk?

[Stephalump]

Ever been so tired that you accidentally poured your self a nice bowl of crunchy cat food with milk?

Hahahaaaa!

[wooh, BSN, RN]

Ever been so tired that you accidentally poured your self a nice bowl of crunchy cat food with milk?

Nope, but I frequently find things in the fridge that should be in the freezer, in the freezer that should be in the pantry, in the pantry that should be in fridge....

[rubato, ASN, RN]

I was so tired this morning that I sprayed my butter spray in my coffee instead of on my toast.

[tothepointeLVN, LVN]

Ever find your keys in the fridge and the milk on the counter. Oh well at least I don't have the hidden stacks of PBJ I used to have on Ambien.