Do you sleep before your first nightshift?

[OgopogoLPN]

I usually cannot sleep beforehand. I can never nap in the afternoon as I have 2 young children. I sometimes try to lie down at 7:30pm (11-7 shift) but I almost never can sleep as my normal bedtime is about 11pm.

So I'm basically up for 24 hours when my first nightshift ends. Subsequent nights are easier as I have slept usually until at least 2pm or so.

 

[red2003xlt, LPN]

Not a nurse (yet); but I am a merchandiser, sometime we'll work overnight store sets usually for 3+ days. One trick is to take an extremely hot shower and then sleep in a cold room.

Hoppe this helps

[chloecatrn]

All day. As much as possible. Otherwise, I'm useless.

[alem-tsahai]

The day before my first night shift, I take a two hour nap. I'm good for the night but after that I usually sleep 6-8 hours after each shift.

[pers]

I also stay up the night before working my first shift back. I work straight 12's and try to keep them grouped together (working every other night is brutal!) which helps a lot. I'm a night owl by nature though, even on my days off I'm generally up till at least 3 am.

The only time I "nap" is when I'm exhausted the night before work and really can't stay up till 7 am, then I'll go ahead and sleep for an hour or two and then go back to bed later in the morning. I've never really been able to nap before work but if I get up before 1 (my shift starts at 7) I will often lay down for an hour or two and rest. It's not as good as sleep but I tend to do better with that than if I spend that time doing anything (even if it's watching tv).

[Nursey103, ADN, RN]

I can't nap during the day. So...the night before I have to work, I just stay up as late as possible (usually 'til around 3 a.m.) & then sleep in as late as possible (usually 'til around 1 p.m.) & then I have ~4 hours to do whatever before I head to work. It works for me. :)

Oh & I have no kids...

[DayDreamin ER CRNP]

If I am returning to my 7p-7a shift after being off I try to stay up as late as possible the night before. I go to work tonight at 6:30 so last night I stayed up til almost 1am. I got up this morning at 8:00 and make b'fast for my dd and piddled around, did laundry, etc.

My ex picks up dd around 11, I take a Benadryl around 12-12:30, eat a light lunch and piddle on the computer for 30-45 mins and then I go back to sleep for a few hours. Most days, I can sleep until at least 4 but there are days I get up much earlier. If I didn't use the meds, I wouldn't sleep as easily. Yeah, I hate medicating but I figure it is just once a week so I'll be ok.

I try not to have much caffeine when I get to work. I usually drink one of those chilled frappacinos or whatever but then I switch to just water or a little Crystal Light. I find that staying hydrated throughout my shift helps me fight the 4AM fatigue.

meredith

[turnforthenurse, MSN, NP]

I haven't worked a 12-hr night shift in awhile (lately it's just been 8-hour shifts, 11p-7a...hospital is cutting back on our hours) but when I work 11p-7a, I usually nap for about 4 hours or so. I take some children's Benadryl (helps me sleep but doesn't make me groggy when I wake up) and make some coffee before I go to work and I'm good to go.

If I'm working a 12 (7p-730a), I take a shower and go straight to sleep when I come home. If I'm not working that night, I usually sleep until 12 or 1pm that way I don't throw off my sleeping schedule completely. If I am, then I will sleep until about 4-5pm then get ready for work.

[JulieCVICURN, BSN, RN]

I'm a night owl, so it's no problem for me to get up at 7, get the kids off to school, and be back asleep by 9 am to get up at 2:15 for my first night shift.

[EricL]

While some medical professionals will look to nap before their shift begins or during breaks, both of these options can disrupt your circadian rhythm. Experienced nursing professionals are more likely to achieve optimal performance and awareness on the job when they are able to achieve about 8 hours of sleep prior to the start of their night shift.

[DavidFR, BSN, MSN, RN]

On 8/21/2010 at 4:56 PM, alem-tsahai said:

The day before my first night shift, I take a two hour nap. I'm good for the night but after that I usually sleep 6-8 hours after each shift.

EXACTLY what I do. 

I'm older now (59) so an afternoon nap is not hard even if I have slept the whole night before.

[JBMmom, MSN, NP]

I'm always up for 24+ hours the first shift. I'm not saying it's healthy or the right thing to do, just how it works out for me. On rare occasions I might get an hour or two nap, but if I slept overnight the night before it usually just doesn't happen. After the first night I can sleep fine during the day, so as long as I don't do constant one on one off, I'm fine. 

[Kitiger, RN]

Nights are rare for me anymore, but when I worked nights, I tried to get a 3 or 4 hour nap in the evening before my shift. Less than 3 didn't work well - I would get too sleepy on the drive home. More than 4 hours wasn't necessary. Of course, I got a full day's sleep after that first night shift.