Forced to do 12 hr shifts

Nurses General Nursing

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I've been working 35 yrs on a med- surg unit on the 3-11:30 shift in a world where 12 hr shifts are becoming the norm. I was told by my manager today that the few remaining 8 hr employees will have to change to 12 hr shifts..... I knew it was coming. A part of me is excited to work one less day a week but I have a history of anxiety related insomnia when I know I have to get up early and function. Working evenings, I can rely on going back to sleep in the morning to make up for a nite of broken sleep. I've never been a morning person and am really nervous about getting a good nights rest to function at 7am, not to mention working for 4 more hours than I'm used to. I have roughly 6 more yrs to retirement and make a good salary, enjoy my work so I hate to change jobs. I have always been very organized and get out of work on time, but I'm really apprehensive about turning my life's schedule around. Any suggestions for successfully making such a transition?

Do you workdays or nights Ruby?

Specializes in OB-Gyn/Primary Care/Ambulatory Leadership.
I know most nurses love their 12's, but I only know 1 nurse over 50 yrs old who likes them- the rest wish they could still do 8's.

Our unit is in the process of attempting to transition to 12s. Our unit is the last hold-out in the hospital. As easy as it would make my life to just say "everyone's going to 12s" I don't think it's fair. At this point, it looks like we will do a combo (allowing those who want to do 12s or 8s) and then as new positions open, they will be transitioned to 12s, phasing out the 8s.

That's what happened to us, they allowed a few to do a combo or straight 8s, but as those people left, and new hires only being 12 hr shifts, they want to convert everything to 12s. No, it's not fair, but either is freezing our pensions or taking away a week of vacation from me since we merged with a bigger healthcare; we've never been unionized. I Cant fight it so I'm trying to roll with it. The only 8 HR person mixed with 12s has disadvantages anyway- coming in at 3p is the busiest time and I often have to give up a patient 4 hrs into a shift to take a new one so the night girls coming in at 7 pm don't get the first admit, plus there's a lack of commaraderie when you don't have a crew beside you who work the same hours.

Guided meditation, ASMR, melatonin, calming activities before bed... Also coffee, tea, Diet Coke, and "Only 12 hours til I can sleep again."

I'm a big fan of ASMR, for some reason it only helps me drift off during the day for short naps, never at bedtime.

Specializes in NICU, ICU, PICU, Academia.

Any chance you.could drop down to 2 shifts/ week? When I did that in my late 50s - it made a HUGE difference. Maybe pick up a PDN prn gig to supplement if needed.

Specializes in Case Manager/Administrator.

After reading all the posts I say better life through pharmaceuticals! Seriously though I would ease myself into the role and start changing my times to reflect my new scheduled in 1-2 hour increments, I would avoid taking a pill if you do not have to have it (just me).

Specializes in Private Duty Pediatrics.

You're used to getting off at 11:30p. Now, you'll be getting off at 7p. Your day ends 4 hours earlier! You can DO this! :)

Seroquel works for me for sleep, since Ambien, temazepam, and even trazodone all eventually pooped out. I have a range dose; I take half a dose with a melatonin if I have to work the next day, and I take a full dose without melatonin when I am off. Perfection for me. I work two days a week as well. My minimum is two 12s, but I usually do two 16s for the money.

Anyway, if you haven't tried it, Seroquel is a great option and you can start as low as 25 mg and go even go up past 300 mg. So there is a huge therapeutic window. It's the best sleep of my life.

Might be worth a chat with your LIP.

I have experienced anxiety related insomnia as well and I couldn't agree more with the poster who advised you confront insomnia in the face. It is actually a well studied method of dealing with anxiety, usually referred to as exposure response therapy. The premise is you face your fear..this particular case being the fear of not falling asleep in time to get adequate rest. You tell the fear "what is the worst that can happen to me?" and in this case the worst thing that will happen is that you will go to work with no sleep. In the large scheme of things, that isn't the worst thing that could happen to a person so you adjust your expectations and tell yourself it is ok to just rest all night in your warm comfy bed and you will be just fine regardless if you fall asleep or not. Basically you give yourself permission to not fall asleep. Often what happens is once you let yourself off the hook, sleep will come with no problem. You have to trick anxiety...speak to it like a bully and confront it. Let it know it won't get the best of you. :)

I have experienced anxiety related insomnia as well and I couldn't agree more with the poster who advised you confront insomnia in the face. It is actually a well studied method of dealing with anxiety, usually referred to as exposure response therapy. The premise is you face your fear..this particular case being the fear of not falling asleep in time to get adequate rest. You tell the fear "what is the worst that can happen to me?" and in this case the worst thing that will happen is that you will go to work with no sleep. In the large scheme of things, that isn't the worst thing that could happen to a person so you adjust your expectations and tell yourself it is ok to just rest all night in your warm comfy bed and you will be just fine regardless if you fall asleep or not. Basically you give yourself permission to not fall asleep. Often what happens is once you let yourself off the hook, sleep will come with no problem. You have to trick anxiety...speak to it like a bully and confront it. Let it know it won't get the best of you. :)

Speaking from experience here, only attempt to drive to work with no sleep if you are 100% positive you won't finally fizzle out when you are on your way to work. Scared the crap out of me while driving over a bridge. 1 hour commute in the dark in a moving vehicle works to put children to sleep...it can work with someone who hasn't slept too. Luckily I woke up before anything happened...and put in my notice while I had my husband drive me in to work the remainder of my time there.

I tried it again many years later. A few things helped. One, not living far away. Less time to be lulled to sleep by the car. Two, decreased my hours. Three, as much as it sucks to get a new assignment each day, knowing that I don't have to come in the next day helps decrease the anxiety. Why? Because even if the day is from hell and I get out late I don't have to rush home to try to sleep and wake up early AGAIN the next day. I no longer work two shifts back to back. And 4), yes, still use the ambien on nights I have to work the next morning...anxiety is still there. It's still a while before the ambien kicks in, but I'm not nodding off while trying to drive either.

Specializes in LTC, Rehab.

I'm an older-but-only-5-yrs-experience RN who's about to go to 12-hr shifts for the first time ever too... and maybe at night, urgh. We'll see...

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