Is per diem nights fairly manageable for non-night owls?

Nurses General Nursing

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Specializes in L&D.

My first nursing job was full time L&D and I was on nights for a few months.

I wasn't really a fan. I feel like I slept all the time when I was off and it was pretty depressing.

After taking off time to be a SAHM, I have an interview for a per diem L&D job...but it's nights...

However I'm thinking per diem it shouldn't be so bad. I'll probably work about once a week.

And I have childcare for my son during the day so I can sleep.

Maybe it will be best since it'll be less time away from him during the day, and the $4 more an hour is nice.

Did anyone here hate full time nights but find per diem manageable?

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Specializes in LTC, med/surg, hospice.

I actually liked night shift and now do that PRN. I find doing a shift here and there harder because my body has gotten readjusted to daytime schedule.

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Did not work for me. Lost 3 days. Needed some sleep the evening before the shift, slept when I got home from the shift... still felt lousy and out of it the next day.

How would you be getting more time with the little one? When would you sleep?

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Specializes in L&D.

I'd sleep maybe 9am-3pm and then also sleep again at night probably.

I'll probably only do 1-2 shifts/week and never back to back.

He goes to a pre-preK 9-2:30. And my husband works from home and can drop him off and pick him up.

So I'd have the late afternoon/evening with him which I wouldn't if I did a 12 hr day shift.

It's not ideal and I do want a day shift job eventually I think.

But trying to get back in the game I need to take what I can get!

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I teach Health Science Classes M-F and work as an RN at a rural hospital on Friday and Saturday nights. I worked as a Pedi nurse on nights and HATED it! I love working PRN nights because I come straight to work on Friday after I leave school and then I sleep all day Saturday. On Sunday, I get up at noon. I feel a little sluggish Sunday/Monday, but I'm back to my old self by Tuesday!

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I did it for 6 years and finally had to switch to days. Night shift was making me ill: headaches, palpitations, low energy. It would take me three days to recover.

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One of the worst things you can do for your health is vary the time of day that you sleep. If you don't do well with nights to begin with, taking a PRN night job where you'll never actually adjust to the schedule will probably be worse than when you were working full time nights.

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Specializes in Med/Surg, Tele, Dialysis, Hospice.

I disagree with most of the previous comments. I am very much a morning person, but after our son was born (23 years ago now!), when I did go back to work, I did per diem 7p-7a shifts and I had no trouble at all. The key is how often you do it, and you said that you are only going to be doing it 1-2 nights a week, you have child care during the day so you can sleep, and your husband works from home and can pick your son up and drop him off, so all of the major components are in place for a smooth transition. If you only work one night and then have a bunch of nights off, it won't be a big deal, and you can go right back to your regular schedule during your days off. If you were asking about going back to full-time nights, I think it would be much more difficult, but I know that working an occasional night for a premium hourly rate was the perfect answer for me, an early bird morning person to boot, after our son was born and I wanted the next best thing to being a stay at home mommy.

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