Can I be a nurse if I'm not a morning person?

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SO..I understand there are evening/night shifts that are available....but personally I'd rather work a day shift because it's more "convenient" I guess...the only thing is that I am horrible at waking up early. And say I have a 7am-7pm shift, I'd have to wake up super early. Like before 6. I'm the type of person who needs 8+ hours of sleep in order to function or else I am a moody, grouchy zombie. Basically...are there any of you who suffer from morning zombie syndrome as well but are still successful nurses? How do you deal with it? I am thinking my only option will be to simply go to sleep earlier.

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As you would with any job that involves the possibility of shift work, arrange your work schedule to your body's schedule. That is one of the advantages of nursing.

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Specializes in Cardiac Telemetry, Emergency, SAFE.

I ditto Caliotter.

Also, maybe try getting up that early now, just for the heck of it .. and see how you do.

I am NOT a morning person, but I managed a 7am job for almost 7 years.

I am not on nights. Thank God. :p

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Specializes in MS, ED.

I am *not* a morning person, but I work regular 12s on the 7-7:30 day shift without much fuss. Unfortunately, DH is one of those invigorated morning folks, so I accepted a day shift assignment as a compromise, (we'd never see one another, otherwise.) I was previously working 12 hour nights, which fit just fine, and I too was worried about how mornings would work out for me. I live 45 minutes from work, which means waking up at 5 am and leaving by 5:45 to arrive in time to settle, organize, and get report to start the shift. UGH!

Yes - you will probably have to go to bed earlier, but you'd be surprised that your body will adjust and actually want to sleep after a 14+ hour day of activity. You'll begin to wake up earlier, too, even on your off days. For me, I found that mornings aren't quite as dreadful nowadays, particularly if I shower and eat before I leave. You'll know pretty quickly if it works for you!

One last thought: there are some other shifts - 3am to 3pm, 11 am - 7 pm, 3-11 - that straddle day/night shifting. I work a few off shifts to cover holes in the schedule and find the change pleasant.

Good luck!

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my husband works the evening shift on the weekends and loves it! no upper management, and night & weekend difts are great!

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Specializes in Pulmonary med/surg/telemetry.

I'm not a morning person at all either. I just love nighttime so night shift works a lot better for me that way as well as just more convenient for me since I have school-aged kids. However, I worked the day shift for about 6 months and was fine. I definitely had to go to bed earlier on the nights before I would work and it was no fun getting up that early, but once I was there I was there and so busy right from the get-go that it was never an issue.

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I've never worked days as a nurse other than the occassional extra shift, but I used to work for GM and had to get up at 4 AM to be there by 6 AM. I'm not a morning person either but I got used to it.

Be aware, however, that day shifts are typically snapped up by senority nurses, so it's unlikely that you will have the choice to work days for awhile as a new nurse.

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Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.

I'm not a morning person. I'm a night owl who works the night shift (6pm to 6am).

Even though daylight hours are more convenient and have been proven to be more healthy to the human body, I cannot cope with the politics of day shift. There's too many managers around, too many visitors and families who want to bother me, and too many people from other disciplines such as doctors, case managers, physical therapists, dietitians, maintenance people, housekeepers, social workers, and so forth.

Night shift is the only way that I can cope. I'd consider day shift only to avoid becoming homeless.

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Specializes in AA&I, research,peds, radiation oncology.
SO..I understand there are evening/night shifts that are available....but personally I'd rather work a day shift because it's more "convenient" I guess...the only thing is that I am horrible at waking up early. And say I have a 7am-7pm shift, I'd have to wake up super early. Like before 6. I'm the type of person who needs 8+ hours of sleep in order to function or else I am a moody, grouchy zombie. Basically...are there any of you who suffer from morning zombie syndrome as well but are still successful nurses? How do you deal with it? I am thinking my only option will be to simply go to sleep earlier.

I know you're questioning about working day shifts, but what about nursing school itself? My classes started at 7AM. All my clinicals were 6AM to 3 PM!!! Just something you should think about.......:nurse:

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coffee, coffee, coffee!

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I'm NOT a morning person either, but you kinda have to be in nursing school! Clinicals startat 6:30 and sometimes I have to drive an hour to a site - so I have to get up at around 4:30 and leave by 5:15. It's not so bad. You might be tired for the first hour of your shift but once you start moving around and doing exciting things you will wake up. Your body will adjust too, after a few days.

My biggest advice is to not resort to too much caffeine - it will bite you in the butt in the end. And try to keep the same schedule every day for the first few weeks - meaning, don't sleep in on your days off, get up at the time you'd get up if you had to work. Your body will adjust faster that way. Oh, and you need to know that you might not always get the shift you want - around here, day shifts can be difficult to come by, at least at the 'good' places to work.

Good luck! You can do it!

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Not a morning person, and have ADHD plus other conditions. Days never worked well, but PM's were great for me for Many years!

NOC's can be tough on your health, as can working days if you are not an early morning person!

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