Anyone who has early clinicals (which we all do) knows what its like to suddenly find yourself standing sleepily, half awake at a hospital while your clinical instructor energetically spews out the days expectations and assignments. You try and wake that brain up with coffee but your just not quite ready to do a full physical exam on Jerry down the hall in room 234, in the next 5 minutes......
I have an hour commute and a 3 yr old to get to preschool before I even arrive at clinicals at 6:45 am. Im thinking of getting up even earlier like 4am or earlier in order to pep myself up with exercise or something before I get to clinicals. Coffee just isnt enough for me- I am not a morning person.
What does everyone else do to get going on those mornings? I know early risers are consisnantly more productive, but im getting up early anyway! Any earlier and were talking 3 am on clinical days. However, it is important to me to be fully there when working at clinicals, I hate grogginess. I also have ADD so that makes it even harder for me to focus. I just wanna be good at what I do.
Share your morning wakeup rituals some of us could use some ideas!
Great thread and even better advice!! I have been dreading this next semester primarily because it entails TWO mornings of clinical every week. I am NOT a morning person.....I usually have one large cup of coffee (a mug, really) in the morning, but I can't do more than that, particularly if I don't eat, because I get the jitters so bad -- either blood sugar or caffeine.
My problem is getting a good night's sleep the night before....I have a nightowl tendency and just DRAG on clinical days unless I have managed to get my 8 hours.
NOT a morning person here AT ALL. Never have been...never will be.
But. alas, during those few dreaded clinical mornings a semester ( ok ok 2X/ week).. I am forced to be.
I wake at 530 to be at clinical at 645
My routine is sad...but like I said I'm NOT A MORNING PERSON
Usually up until 2am...can't help it. Set up uniform, underwear, socks, shoes in bathroom. Clinical bag is prepped and IN THE CAR the night before.
Alarm goes off- curse at it a few times.. Rub my eyes, stretch, yawn, ..fight urge to lay back down.....get up...stumble into bathroom.
DO my business, brush my teeth, put on uniform...fight urge to go lay back down.......stomp upstairs....drink a red bull.....eat a banana.....take vitamins.
Look in mirror...wipe sleep out of my eyes...fight urge to lay back down
Stomp around..find car keys...slap my face a few times
Get in car..and NO MATTER HOW HOT/COLD I BLAST THE AIR CONDITIONING and CRANK UP the radio
Drive to hospital....usually Red Bull is kicking in....walk in to report/meeting room
......where I am met by drowsy classmates asking how I do it
I have done both morning and evening 12 hour shifts...I can't quite put my finger on what it is, but there's something kind of surreal about working nights in a hospital. I enjoy it, though, because I'm very nocturnal by nature. however, I've spent the past 4 years or so getting used to getting up early, and now I don't think I could go back to nights unless I knew that i would never have to switch back to days again for the rest of my life. Plus nursing school is about to start and I have to be at school at 8 am every morning - and school is a good 45+ minute drive at that ungodly hour...yes, thank god for 2nd and 3rd shifts...and loud music...loud LOUD high energy music in the car (metal for me, thank you).
Well, here's mine....(which I need to think about again, as it's time to start getting prepared for clinical days)....aaaaaaaAAAA!!! I work nights, so am night owl by tendancy.....However, last semester I had 8 week clinicals at a hospital about 45 mins south of where I live......
I always ensured my uniform was WASHED the night before, hanging with downy wrinkle releaser sprayed on it, clinical bag and clipboard were packed with info, books, steth, penlight, nametag, etc.....
I set the alarm for 1/2 hour before I HAD to be up, due to hitting the snooze....(I know me).....Got up, usually had some sort of caffine, and breakfast, packed soda or hot cocoa into a travel mug(can't do coffee), and blasted music all the way there....singing along. Once in a while, I could actually carpool with other students and that helped as we'd just be giddy and talkative in the mornings......
I walk into clinical smiling and saying "Good MORNING, XXXX hospital! It's gonna be a barnburner kind of day! (Ala Robin Williams in GM vietnam).....although the looks they give me could probably set concrete on fire...oh, well.....
I walk into clinical smiling and saying "Good MORNING, XXXX hospital! It's gonna be a barnburner kind of day! (Ala Robin Williams in GM vietnam).....although the looks they give me could probably set concrete on fire...oh, well.....
Whatever gets you through the morning, right?! LOL!
I haven't tried setting the alarm 30 mins prior to having to bet out of bed, I may try that. I always like waking up and seeing that I have more time left to sleep. That'd put it around 4:00 though.
I honestly think if I could get a shower in the morning it would make me more alert, but with the time I have to work with there is just NO WAY!
I set everything I need by the front door the night before. If I'm really good, I make my lunch the night before too, but usually I'm tired and forget. Then I shower and dry my hair. I always get to bed no later than 11:00 (we don't do prep the night before).
I snooze my alarm clock one time, then I get up, get dressed, make lunch, put stuff in appropriate pockets, and get out the door. This whole process takes me about 15-20 minutes, so I get to sleep later than had I not prepared. :) I also blast the radio in the car and drink a yogurt smoothie or something in the car, and/or eat a bagel with cream cheese. The key to me staying awake is to keep moving. If I sit down, I get bored and sleepy, so I try to keep myself busy.
Specializes in future speciality interest: Nurse Midwif.
... The danger with caffeine is it sets up a cycle where caffeine will interfere with sleep, then you feel tired the next day so you drink caffeine to wake up and the cycle continues. Proceed at your own peril. :roll
Completly agree with that statment, learned it in one of my course
I am not in clinicals yet, I start that in January. But when I was in the Army waking up between 5 and 530 to be there for 630 PT (physical training). I used to actually start doing pushups, crunches, and jumping jacks and sometimes going for a run around my apartment building. I hated being up in the morning, but I started doing this again about 3-4 mths ago because I wanted to get back into waking up early plus it's cooler to run early in the morning compared to the day in the summer;). It's hard to fall asleep or be tired after exercising since your body's endorphins are at a high.
I found that setting out everything I need to bring the night before is crucial. The last thing you want to do is be running around at 5am trying to find your stethoscope or drug cards! I also used to stay up really late and try to get everything done but then I was crap the next day on the actual clinical day (which is the whole point of the looking up part obviously). Now I force myself to give it up by 9pm and watch an hour of tv max or go to bed. Getting to bed early is key to feeling okay the next day.
WDWpixieRN, RN
2,237 Posts
Great thread and even better advice!! I have been dreading this next semester primarily because it entails TWO mornings of clinical every week. I am NOT a morning person.....I usually have one large cup of coffee (a mug, really) in the morning, but I can't do more than that, particularly if I don't eat, because I get the jitters so bad -- either blood sugar or caffeine.
My problem is getting a good night's sleep the night before....I have a nightowl tendency and just DRAG on clinical days unless I have managed to get my 8 hours.
Good luck all!