First time night-shifter who's a morning person

CrufflerJJ, BSN, RN, EMT-P · Sep 5, 2008

Fellas...need some advice.
The last time I posted here was last summer when I was stressing out to all hell about the start of nursing school. Well one year later, I'm more confident and 3 months away from graduating. This semester begins our leadership rotation which means we shadow and take up a partial workload of a RN at the university hospital. (All work is done under the supervision of an RN) We have to do this for 200 hrs which is easily achievable. My question is...how do you guys cope with working nights when you've never done it before? Do you have any tricks that help? Especially turning right around and going to morning class 2 days later?
I did it last night (thursday night) and now (Friday afternoon) I'm in a complete fog. I got about 6 hours of sleep which is low for me. You can probably tell how tired I am by the long-windedness of the post. Any help would be greatly appreciated. :zzzzz
I'm looking forward to giving my recap of nursing school post-graduation.

It's even better when you work your preceptor's hours, and they rotate shifts every 3-4 weeks!

It is definitely not easy. I know the "foggy" feeling you're writing about. It would hit me more after working a night shift rather than a day shift.

Try to stay active during the night - you'll start to "wind down" if you just sit & nod off. Force yourself to get at least a few hours of sleep the afternoon before your night shift. No, it's not as good as a full 8 hours sleep, but it will help.

Caffeine is your friend during the shift.

Be VERY careful driving home after working a night, especially if you're sleep deprived. It's very easy to zone out while driving.

Keeping organized with clinicals & school work will be difficult. You'll lose track of what day of week it is, as well as what assignment is due in class that day.

Enjoy!

SteveNNP, MSN, NP · Sep 7, 2008

After your last night shift, avoid caffeine after 2am. Go home and sleep until noon-ish. Get up, caffeinate yourself and stay busy. Go to bed around 10-11pm that night, and take a benadryl or melatonin so you can sleep through the night. By morning you will be back on day-shift schedule for classes. I've worked nights for 3+ years with school during the day for the last year, and this is how I made it work...

CrufflerJJ, BSN, RN, EMT-P · Sep 7, 2008

After your last night shift, avoid caffeine after 2am. Go home and sleep until noon-ish. Get up, caffeinate yourself and stay busy. Go to bed around 10-11pm that night, and take a benadryl or melatonin so you can sleep through the night. By morning you will be back on day-shift schedule for classes. I've worked nights for 3+ years with school during the day for the last year, and this is how I made it work...

Benadryl or Benadryl + EtOH worked for me also. NOTE: If you've not taken Benadryl before, give it a try (small dose ~25mg). For some folks (like my wife), it makes them hyper, with skin-crawling feelings. For me, on the other hand, it works nicely like most other sedating antihistamines.

locolorenzo22, BSN, RN · Sep 7, 2008

I often would go from work 5p-5a to class at 9AM without sleeping...then back to bed at about 1PM until I woke up....You do what you have to. Caffine, walking, water, etc...are all good ideas. I would sleep as late as possible on the day before you go in..like 2-3 hours before you have to be there or leave..

gottaBRN · Sep 10, 2008

easy on the drugs fellas ! reminds me of my youth ! i actually remember reading an article, its fairly recent, last 6 months i think about napping on the job during breaks at night. google it. i work nights now just to get the pre-recs done, caffine helps try to sleep before the shift in a dark room and that eye patch to block the light. i've heard they work !

znov11 · Sep 10, 2008

You simply sleep 8hours straight and avoid caffeine. A glass of warm milk will make your waking up better. Works for me. Ive been night shift in my practicum rotation for 2weeks.