First nursing job asking for advice from fellow 3rd shift people

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Hi there, I used to be an uber negative nancy here in the forums but I finally somehow landed a nursing job in less than a year of receiving my RN license at a long term care facility that has it's own sub acute unit so there is something like hospital experience there. The facility I work at has a reputation for being difficult and the turnover rate for new hires is pretty high (The person told us out of 150 new hires that one year only 60 stayed). But my mom tells me if I can survive there, I can survive anywhere else.

Now here's my situation, I've been given the 11p-7a shift (full time) I'm told the patient load is higher but the work isn't AS hard but I can't let my guard down kind of thing. I also have a 2nd job at a tutoring center thats from 5p-8p on Tuesdays and Thursdays, the work there is simple and honestly I can get to unwind a lot there since my coworkers and manager is a blast to work with.

What should I do to cope and make sure I survive in this place? (I'm about to start my orientation on the floor which involves me rotating to the several areas such as LTC, Subacute, and the Dementia ward) Most likely I'm going to be overwhelmed since school doesn't really exactly prepare you for the real world of nursing.

What kind of sleep cycle should I be doing? I live like 30 minutes away from the place but I usually leave an hour before my shift to make sure I'm not late. Another concern is, I'm working nights am I really going to have no social life? And what are your eating habits? I've been trying to keep fit and lose weight again, but right now I have no idea when to work out and when to eat.

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Specializes in Pulmonary, Lung Transplant, Med/Surg.

Ahh, welcome to midnights :redpinkhe I love, love, love my nights and chose to do them.

What you wrote is very accurate, you can't let your guard down at night but sometimes the nights are really quite nice, you never know what you're going to get.

Sleep wise, what I do is I get home around 8am, sleep until about 3pm and I'm still able to spend time with future-hubby and get some errands done. You can still have a social life, it'll just be a little harder to coordinate with your daylight working friends. On my days off I usually only sleep until 1pm so I have more time to get things done and go out in the evening.

Since you're working steady 11pm-7am I would recommend eating like you normally would, dinner at 5pm or so and what I do is eat breakfast AT work, that way you're still getting the meal but not RIGHT before you go to bed. Your mornings will be busy so that will burn off any excess calories.

Good luck!!

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I'm sorry, I'm a night shift person, but I'm the last person to give advice on how to thrive on night shift. If you interacted with me concerning my lifestyle and my health over the years, you would see why I make that statement. You have to read a lot of what people do and try things to see what works for you. Good luck. Hope you like night shift. There's something about the night owl lifestyle that really can't be beat. When I find out what it is, I'll let you know! :p

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Another concern came to mind to me. Am I going to be able to reinforce my clinical skills? It seems a lot of the 11p-7a shift's responsibility is to get the next day's paperwork ready and to double check item counts. I know their role is important but, I don't want to be stuck working nights forever (unless I REALLY love it).

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Specializes in ER, progressive care.
Another concern came to mind to me. Am I going to be able to reinforce my clinical skills? It seems a lot of the 11p-7a shift's responsibility is to get the next day's paperwork ready and to double check item counts. I know their role is important but, I don't want to be stuck working nights forever (unless I REALLY love it).

Patients will still need their meds throughout the night, including IV's and that sort. You will also get admissions at night/into the wee hours of the morning, so you will still be doing admission assessments and all of that fun stuff. The two hospitals where I have worked always did their labs in the morning, usually around 0500-0600. So you will be doing that as well, unless your hospital utilizes lab techs or something. Just because you're on nights doesn't mean that you will lose all of your clinical skills! ;)

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Specializes in Geriatrics.

I work 11p-7a as well, and I really like it. I have worked all three shifts, and in my opinion, this shift is MUCH better than 3-11. I have much more of a life now that I work 3rd shift.

The biggest thing you need to do is make sure you get into a sleep routine. What works for other people may not work for you. Some people sleep as soon as they get home, others wait until the afternoon and sleep right through until their shift begins. Personally, I like to sleep when I get home until around 3-4 pm, because I feel I have a more "normal" schedule this way.

I only live 5 minutes away from work, so when I get home, I will have something small to eat for breakfast, watch a little tv, then get ready for bed. I generally am asleep by 8 am and wake up anywhere from 3-4 pm. Then I have the rest of my evening free, which I love. If I'm still extremely tired, I may take a 1/2 hour nap before work, but usually I'm okay as long as I get 7-8 hours of uninterrupted sleep during the day.

If you can't block out the light enough with blinds or curtains in your bedroom, invest in a sleeping mask. I just purchased one, and it makes a WORLD of difference. I no longer wake up in the middle of sleeping because of the sunlight coming in. Some people wear earplugs, but these kind of annoy me.

As far as exercise goes, some people like to exercise right after they get out of work, but I like to after I wake up in the afternoon.. then I can take a shower right after, and start my day.

Also, I don't really drink any caffiene. I make sure to drink plenty of water.. this really helps me stay awake. I don't eat a big meal at work, I just bring healthy snacks, especially fruit. A lot of my co-workers have complained of gaining weight on this shift, but a lot of them snack on junk food and pizza, etc.

Good luck and welcome to night shift! :clown:

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