Early Morning Nurses (and Nursing Students)

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LaneyB

191 Posts

I am also not a morning person, and getting up early is always a challenge. I have done it for the past 10 years, and it really doesn't get easier. I set 2 alarms on my phone, one for 6:43 am and one for 6:44 am. I don't let myself snooze. I get up and immediately take my shower. Usually I feel a bit better after showering. By the time I get to work at 8 am I usually feel much more awake.

On the weekends I try to keep a somewhat earlier schedule then I would naturally prefer. I try to be up by 9:30, or 10:30 if I stay up really late. Life would probably be easier if I stuck to an even earlier schedule on the weekends, but I so look forward to my two days of sleeping later.

BSN16

389 Posts

Specializes in ICU, trauma.

i set an alarm clock at 5:30....5:35.....5:40...5:45....

yeah i'm one of those people:laugh:

My shift starts at 6am. I usually clock in around 0545. I set several phone alarms- 0345 and 405, etc. I leave my house between 5-515 depending on how fast I am moving that day. I try to pack my lunch the night before. I try to be in bed between between 8-9 and fast asleep before 10. I usually average about 6-7 hours of sleep on the days I work. It's just hard to go to bed so early. Especially in the summer!

I take unisom or ZzQuil usually the first night. But then the next night I'm usually tired by 8pm. That only works if I work consecutive shifts though. I've never (knock on wood) overslept. I used to get up to run at 5am though so it's not hard for me to get up early.

Ooh yes, I agree with all of this advice.

I have overslept an alarm (during new grad orientation :bag:) and vowed never to do it again. My best advice for getting up is to have an alarm clock strategy. I have multiple alarms set on my iPhone next to my bed, starting 20 mins before I need to get up; each gets progressively more annoying, ending with that one that sounds like a fog horn. My back up alarm is an actual alarm clock on the opposite side of my bedroom so I have to get out of bed to turn it off; it is set to that horrible staticy sound in between radio stations at the loudest possible volume.

I know it's counterintuitive, but getting up even earlier than you have to can be really helpful. Even though I could sleep until 6 and be out the door at 6:20, I've found it's better to set my final alarm for 5:30. That way I have time to actually wake up, eat breakfast, and make sure that I have everything I need before I've got to be out the door.

Whether sleeping before a night shift or day shift, I am all about the ZzQuil. FYI, if you're on a budget, the active ingredients in ZzQuil are just Benadryl and a tiny bit of alcohol... Like momathorner said, after you've done your first consecutive shift, its easier to fall asleep for the next ones because you're so tired.

In school, it definitely helps to try to get your prep work for clinicals done ahead of time (I know, much easier said than done). That way, you're not staying up late the night before finishing it, laying in bed worrying about it, or rushing to complete it the morning of.

Specializes in Critical Care, Education.

OK - as a prospective nurse, this would be a great time to look into "evidence-based practice" in order to make the right decisions. There is a TON of research on the subject of sleep. Recent findings are focusing on the importance of sleep cycles. Great info HERE

Basically, there are stages of sleep - from very deep "drool sleep" when you're dead to the world, to REM sleep, which the lightest stage... when you dream. During REM sleep, you're closest to waking -- so actually waking up during this stage is much less disruptive to your system. On the other hand, if you are jarred awake during stage 3 (drool sleep) - you'll feel horrible and groggy. Everyone's sleep cycle is unique, but you can explore yours... there's an app for that! You can use your cell phone to help determine your sleep cycle - there are a few apps, actually.

Once you have determined your own sleep cycle, you can figure out when you should go to sleep.... by using math (I know, ugh) to determine how to best ensure that you'll be in REM sleep when it's time to wake up. Even if you end up getting less sleep overall, you'll feel better than if you get more sleep, but wake up in the wrong part of your sleep cycle.

So - in the spirit of scientific investigation... try it out. If nothing else, you may still be bleary-eyed and grumpy for those early arrival clinicals, but you may have the makings of a great research paper. At best, you may be end up being "that one" that is cheerful and raring to go at 6:30 AM.

OK - as a prospective nurse, this would be a great time to look into "evidence-based practice" in order to make the right decisions. There is a TON of research on the subject of sleep. Recent findings are focusing on the importance of sleep cycles. Great info HERE

Basically, there are stages of sleep - from very deep "drool sleep" when you're dead to the world, to REM sleep, which the lightest stage... when you dream. During REM sleep, you're closest to waking -- so actually waking up during this stage is much less disruptive to your system. On the other hand, if you are jarred awake during stage 3 (drool sleep) - you'll feel horrible and groggy. Everyone's sleep cycle is unique, but you can explore yours... there's an app for that! You can use your cell phone to help determine your sleep cycle - there are a few apps, actually.

Once you have determined your own sleep cycle, you can figure out when you should go to sleep.... by using math (I know, ugh) to determine how to best ensure that you'll be in REM sleep when it's time to wake up. Even if you end up getting less sleep overall, you'll feel better than if you get more sleep, but wake up in the wrong part of your sleep cycle.

So - in the spirit of scientific investigation... try it out. If nothing else, you may still be bleary-eyed and grumpy for those early arrival clinicals, but you may have the makings of a great research paper. At best, you may be end up being "that one" that is cheerful and raring to go at 6:30 AM.

This is nice if you can actually decide when you'll fall asleep (There are people who can sleep when they want to?? I'm skeptical :laugh:).

FYI, if you're on a budget, the active ingredients in ZzQuil are just Benadryl and a tiny bit of alcohol...

Not quite! Nyquil products have doxylamine succinate as the antihistamine/drowsiness inducer, which you can find under the brand name Unisom. Both Unisom and Benadryl can make you pretty groggy the next day, so don't experiment with new meds on the night before clinical. Taking them earlier in the evening can help minimize the hangover.

As others have said, it helps to avoid stimulants in the evening. Do something relaxing as you're winding down for bed like reading, listening to music, doing some guided meditation, or something fun like ASMR (never heard of it? grab your earbuds and go to YouTube!). TURN THOSE LIGHTS OFF. Any light, but particularly the blue light from electronic devices, interferes with production of the sleep hormone melatonin.

I set increasingly obnoxious alarms starting at "It would be smart to get up at this time" and running through "Get up now or you'll be late." I'll also set an alarm across the room next to some Diet Coke. If I reward myself for stumbling across the room with a glass of bubbles and caffeine, I tend to avoid hitting snooze more easily.

Allow extra time for your drive and arrival, always. There will be random setbacks of weather or traffic so it's smart to be early anyway, but my day always starts a little more smoothly if I have a few minutes after arrival to take a deep breath, gather my thoughts, and start settling in for the day.

RestlessHeart

60 Posts

Y'all will never believe this. I am not and have never been a morning person per se' I have no problem getting up, just dont mess with me :mad: My Fiance' particularly loves that one. So here's my mornings and have been my mornings for a lotta years.

I do not and never have used an alarm clock. I dont even know how to set one. I plan on bedtime being 8-830. I shower lotion blah blah blah, get all nested in bed, making sure the fan is on the ac is on (seasonally), set the timer on the TV and before I see what's actually on the TV I will be out cold. I am literally asleep THAT fast.

Here's the worst. I am awake...wide freaking awake between Midnight and 130am. Without fail. NO matter what time I go to bed, what kind of day Ive had or where Ive been.........I WILL BE AWAKE between those hours. Unfortunately there is no going back to sleep. I cant and its not for lack of trying. The fiance' makes coffee, I sit at the desk in my home office and surf the PC. About 430 I take a quick shower, do the hair / make up etc and get dressed and out the door by 5. He packs me a lunch and hands me coffee as I walk out the door. I start work at 6 and get home about 4.

I get as little as 90 minutes of sleep a night...never more than 4...MAYBE 5. I have some major pain issues and that is usually what wakes me. My back has been broken a couple times and that does not lend itself to any degree of comfort for sleeping.

Pretty crazy but I have never over slept or used an alarm clock. I can take a power nap at work sometimes during break by looking at my watch, telling myself something like "Ok, ya got 9 minutes, make it quick" and I will doze so deep and quick I will actually dream ...but be wide awake and ready to work in 9 minutes!! (Another oddity...I only look at a watch or clock once in any given day...from then on I can tell you what time it is within 2 minutes at any point ..without looking)

Have an awesome evening

RNperdiem, RN

4,592 Posts

I make life easier by doing as much as possible the night before. My lunch is packed and in the fridge, my uniform is laid out, shoes are in the car, backpack by the door ready to go, shower taken the night before work. The fewer decisions to make and things to remember, the easier getting out the door becomes.

Specializes in Psych, Med-Surg, utter confusion, chaos!.

Wow ok I may seem boring, but I am a morning person! It is still hard to get up early. But I usually pack my lunch the night before and have all of my things ready as well. When my alarm goes off at 0430, with my eyes half open, I just get up and stumble straight to the coffee pot!

rpsychnurse

59 Posts

I set a couple of alarms (just in case- I'm often up by the first one) and have my Keurig auto set for when I wake up so I can make coffee right away!

I work exclusively day shift (0645-1500) so I guess I'm just in a pattern by now. I also have a baby who is an earlybird- she doesn't sleep in much past 0530 so she makes sure I'm up in time!

If I've gotten little sleep the night before I load up on coffee and snacks (not healthy, I know) and try to talk to people as little as possible at work!

NurseBre94, ASN

169 Posts

I did not become an early bird until after going to clinicals in nursing school. I prepare the night before by ironing my uniform, packing lunch, and packing my backpack. I started out doing nights as an aide for 3 years and switched to evenings because of school. It doesn't get any easier :sarcastic:.

Not quite! Nyquil products have doxylamine succinate as the antihistamine/drowsiness inducer, which you can find under the brand name Unisom. Both Unisom and Benadryl can make you pretty groggy the next day, so don't experiment with new meds on the night before clinical. Taking them earlier in the evening can help minimize the hangover.

I believe that NyQuil uses doxylamine succinate, whereas ZQuil uses diphenhydramine. I'm a terrible sleeper, so I've spent a kind of ridiculous amount of time researching the various OTC sleep meds. In my experience, diphenhydramine is much faster acting and leaves me with less of a 'hangover' effect than doxylamine succinate, even though doxy is supposedly stronger. You can get both very cheap in bulk at the grocery store or on Amazon.

Lots of excellent points, NotAllWhoWander (and awesome username :))

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