Does anyone else like working night shift besides me?

I've worked nights consecutively for the past 15 years; in fact, I've only worked days or evenings for 22 months out of 20+ years of nursing.

I LOVE working nights. You could not run fast enough to give me a day shift position!

We have a great night crew in the SICU where I work. I enjoy the folks I work with, and I like the autonomy we have to take care of our patients and make decisions.

I like that there are no meal trays or PT or administrators to deal with.

I love that I've been able to be an active parent to my three sons and still work at a job I love. I'm one of those who pulls 24-28 hours at a time and can get by on 3-4 hours of sleep between shifts.

I love being home during the day. Sick kid? No problem. Just set him on the couch next to me!

Luckily, my husband and I function very independently, so our time apart is not a source of friction. We've never had to have day care for the kids, which has been a huge blessing.

People on nights tend to be interesting. We share some great stories and really get to know each other. We have some great cooks on our shift, we potluck at the drop of a hat, and we flat know how to make great coffee!

The shift differential is a nice bonus. Scurrying out of the madness at 0730 is PRICELESS.

Hi,

You are not the only one...I loved it.The whole atmosphere is different, no families to worry you, and the staff in general is SO laid back.But age and my internal clock started to wear me down. Niali

I have mixed feelings about night shift. I work in a LTC facility and have for about 3 years. Most of those 3 years I have been on night shift. I love the sometimes quiet of nights. There are nights that are not so quiet. Lots of call lights, etc. But overall quiet. I have a wonderful staff that I work with. We are truly a team at night because there is so few of us. The teamwork is awsome at night. Now the down side to nights even on your days off you spend a good amount of time sleeping trying to catch up a bit. And you miss out on a lot of things that go on during the day. I am currently going to school besides working to get my nursing degree I am only a CMA right now and working nights is helping me keep up with school also. So that is a big plus for me. I can take my homework to work and on quiet nights I can get in some extra study time. Also the extra pay at night is a big plus too. So yes I will probably be a night shifter at least for the next 3-4 years. And it's not so bad. You get used to the strange sleeping hours. Just my worth!!:icon_roll

i haven't voluntarily worked days for many years. just as day shift people have physical upsets when they work nights, my system does not tolerate day shift well at all. after 40 years of nursing (thirty of them on nights), i cannot think of working days without a slight shudder.

I have worked the night shift for almost 25 years now, and absolutely love it, and would never consider moving to days. I work in an 80+ bed NICU.

I've worked day shift, and 3-11, and feel like I am in an entirely different universe. It's noisy, congested, and loud. People coming and going, babies being taken all over the hospital for scheduled tests, OT, PT, Speech Therapy, etc.

At night we do only emergency procedures or surgeries. We do admit babies around the clock, all transported in from another hospital. We usually have at least an hour's notice of an admission coming. Parents are allowed to visit 21 hours a day in our unit. I enjoy the friendships I have formed with other nurses who work nights. We work either 8 or 12 hour shifts in my unit. I work 3 days a week, 7pm-7am. I do sleep during the day, even on my days off. If I have errands to do, I will sleep in the morning, and plan them for late afternoon or evening. My BF works 8-10 hour days, so it works out well for us. I am off 4 days a week. I am VERY tired, but more alert at 0200 than I am at 1000. A true night owl, I guess. And it helps that I have no children at home.

I have worked the night shift for 5 years now and could never see myself working days or pm's. I worked days for 17 years and never got used to the hours. My body has never felt better rested or more in sync than since I started nights. I was used to the sleeping pattern in one week. I also love the teamwork most of us share. We do have one cna who is a toxic personality who does what she wants when she wants, but that's another story for another time.:innerconf

I also work 12 hr nightshift. It will soon be 10 years. I work long term care. When I first started working I would jump from working days to nights. My body didn't know whether to sleep or stay awake. That was too hard on the body. So now I just stick to nights. No chiefs to deal with. Very few families to deal with.

I am debating as to which shift I will take. I have a 2 1/2 year old and a 10 month old, and I am worried about my ability to get sleep on my days off with them.

Do any of you have children and work nights? How does that affect your sleep?

I am nervous, because I have never been much of a napper.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of night shift?

thanks

Hello; I've tried dayshift a couple of times and always retreated back to nightshift. I like the staff. I like the quiet. I like the extra pay. Day's and swing shift have administration, overhead paging, visitors, meals, and doctors to deal with. Each with their own level of anxiety that they cheerfully pass along to the nurses. I've adapted to the sleep cycle and can easily flip from day to night sleeping. I'm just wondering if anyone likes to work nights?

I work the night shift...fresh out of school started out on the day shift...thought I was going crazy...with all the noise stimulation...had to go to nights...most all my jobs have been graveyards or late hours...would love to find a part-time day job with weekends off...would be nice to get on a regular sleep schedule...but for now I'm doing the night shift...just alot more calmer....I still work my butt off...but it's OK.

I worked night shift for all but 2 of my 25 years in nursing. Although 3-11 was easiest on my body, the disappearance of the 8 hour shift ended that. I found I did pretty well on night shift, lupus and all, if I kept to nearly the same schedule on my off days, up until 4 AM, sleeping until noonish, taking the afternoons to take care of what ever day business I needed to do.

An added bonus was getting rid of religious proselytizers. They'd invariably wake me up an hour or so into my sleep period between night 12s. I was not a nice person. I haven't seen any of them for about 10 years now.

I have a deep appreciation fro those who work the day shift, by choice or due to circumstance. Without their selfless sacrifice I would have to rotate shifts, or worse work the day shift. So far I have about 1 year of day-shift work in 30 years of work (18 in nursing). That is managable.

There are differences between the shifts but the similarites in the goals are more pronounced: we care for aour patients 24 hours out of every day and I cannot do the whole thing. I appreciate the increased presence and collaboration offered by the various diciplines on days but relish the independance offered to the night staff. In my current assignment, we collaborate more on nights than I am use to, but this is not a bad thing because it helps our patients.

My hope is that the educational opportunities offered to days will eventually arrive on nights, too. It would be nice to have some depth/ added resources available to the night turn as well.

For those thinking about the night turn: sleep at the same time every day, even your days off. I chose 1p-3p and this keeps me on cycle and alert for my patients and staff. I need about 6-7 hours sleep in a 24 hour period and as long as those same two hours are covered, I usually feeel good. Too many of my compatriots appear to work sleep deprived. This can only lead to errors and is a threat to their livelyhood and patients. I have the support of my family and we do a pretty good job of keeping me safe at work from this perspective.

Another bonus for the night turn not here to for mentioned is the traffic: it is usually going the other way for me and thus smooth sailing to and from work.

Live long and prosper, safely.

DRBear432

PS: Good post, OP.