Night shifters, a few questions

Nurses General Nursing

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I am a new grad and also new to nights. Just a few questions for you!

1. How late do you stay up on your nights off? How much do you sleep? What works for you? Do you stick to the schedule or flip flop on your days off?

So far I have been staying up til 4 or 5am, then sleeping from 5-10ish, getting up for a few hours, then sleeping again from 1-4ish. It is weird, but I just cannot seem to sleep through from the morning til the afternoon.

2. What is your eating schedule like? How about on your days off? I am hungry at night because I am up, but I am waking up STARVING during the day, too. I need to get a handle on this or I am going to double in size!

Sometimes my nerves about the job keep me up. I am really hoping that feeling gets better with time. It is so hard to think and make decisions when you are tired all the time.

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Specializes in OB (with a history of cardiac).

How late I stay up on off nights depends on if I just worked or not. If say I work a Wedensday and Thursday, I do find it hard to go go bed before 3am on Friday and Saturday, by Sunday my body is more willing to sleep by 1-2 am, but it wouldn't be much to make myself stay up unitl 3-4. I also find that I'm always hungry at night- starting around 0130-0200 I start getting the munchies, and that generally coiensides with when I'm having a snack at work too. During the day, on an off day I generally have trouble getting hungry. My body has adapted pretty well though, to the night shift. I've been at it almost a year now. I only feel bad because I feel like don't see my husband and children enough.

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1. I pretty much keep the same schedule. I work 7pm to 7am so I usually sleep from around 1000 to 1800 on work days. On days off I keep the same sleep schedule give or take an hour or two. I try to be in bed by at least noon and up by 8. If we have a family function or some reason that I need to be up during the day I just sort of nap a lot and wing it.

2. As far as eating goes, on work days I don't think about food til around midnight or 1 then I eat something like a lean cuisine or left overs from the weekend. I may have a light snack in the morning but that's it. On my last day to work, when I get off in the morning I always go have a big breakfast after my shift in the cafeteria (my hospital has a decent one). I eat a lot more on days off though mostly because I have time to eat breakfast, lunch and dinner. On work days I don't feel like I have time to do much other than work and sleep.

Some of the nurses I work with swap back and forth between sleeping nights and days every time they have a day off. I have no idea how they do that. I'd be exhausted.

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Specializes in tele, oncology.

I have a totally messed up schedule, but it works for me.

I work Fri-Sat-Sun nites, try to stay up and spend time with the family on Sat and Sun mornings (till 11ish). Mondays it's not out of the ordinary for me to stay up till 2ish before I crash; I'll get up around 7ish to have dinner and spend time with kidlets and hubby, stay up till midnight or 1, and then go back to bed, setting me up to be on a day schedule during the week.

As far as eating goes, I'm trying to lose weight, so I've stocked up on soups and healthy easy snacks. If I'm going to eat something bad, I make myself stop and think, "When I step on the scale in two days, is this gonna have been worth it?" Sometimes the answer is yes...sometimes I know it's one of those nights where if I start I won't be able to stop. I've been on nights now for over 5 years. It definitely takes some getting used to and some time to find your groove and what works for you.

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Specializes in Rehab, Neuro, Travel Nurse, Home Care.

I work 7p-7a and I sleep from 10a-4/5p everyday. I keep my sleep schedule the same and I can't sleep at night. I run errands in the middle of the night, early morning, or evening times. It can be a little lonely being up in the middle of the night, but that's what the internet is for.

As far as eating, I eat when I wake up, then around 1 am, and then early morning. Overtime my body adjusted and 5pm is like 5am to me. The hardest part is explaining this to my family and friends. They don't understand that when they call to chit chat at 1pm is like 1am to me. Also just because I'm home in the middle of the day that doesn't mean I can run their errands. In order to stop them from calling, I started calling them at 3am just to talk. They got the point after that.

There are nurses on my floor that can flip and sleep at night, but when I do that I'm a zombie. They say that they stay awake when they get off from work and take a little nap in the afternoon, then go to bed at night. I only do that when I have to go to a daytime function (ex wedding).

I hope this helps. I love night shift and can't imagine going back to days.

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Specializes in Pedi.

I'm a rotater (working primarily nights lately) so I guess I'm a little different than a permanent night shift person. If I'm not working 2 nights in a row, on the second night I go to bed at night and wake up in the morning.

This week, I worked Thurs/Fri nights (7P-7A)- I came home on Friday morning and slept from about 8-2, went to work on Friday night for 12 hrs, came home Saturday morning and slept from about 8-1 as I had things to do yesterday. Last night I went to bed around midnight and slept until about 8:30 this morning.

I never sleep all day after my first night but if I'm working multiple nights in a row (3 on night weekends), after the second night I'll usually sleep all day until 4 or 5pm. After the third night if I then have 2 days off, I sometimes will wake up between 12-2pm or sometimes if I'm really exhausted, I have no problems sleeping all day (like till 6pm) and still going to bed that night at midnight and sleeping through the night.

I've been rotating for 4 1/2 years so I no longer have problems switching back and forth. It's not fun though.

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1. IF there are many days off in a row 2-3 then I will flip flop to a somewhat day shift schedule. IF i work one night , come home then I sleep from 9 am or so until 4pm stay up until 7am then sleep until 3 to go back to work at 7pm.

2. I try not to eat more than 3 times a day. If i am working nights i eat at 5pm, 2am and 8am. Of course if it is a crazy shift I may not eat until 4 am. I might not eat when I get home etc. If i am off and NOT on a day schedule. Then I eat around 8pm and a very small snack a few hours before I go to bed at 7am. This is very confusing, I know. but with nights I feel like i NEVER have a schedule.

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Specializes in ICU.

Since switching to permanent nights a year ago, I still have not been able to come up with a consistent schedule. Say I'm working 7p-7a 3 days in a row. I'll take a nap during the first day, then be exhausted and zonked out for the next 3 days after working. I can't switch back to a day schedule unless I have more than 2 days off together, and even then it's like why switch for just one day? I am very much a night owl, but being up all night every night is getting depressing for me, and I do find that I enjoy being up and about in the daylight very much. It seems that everyone has a different groove though...over time you'll find what's comfortable for you.

As far as eating, I eat 2 meals and 1-2 snacks on worknights, and usually just 1-2 meals/snacks on my days off. Not very healthy, but it's just what I'm hungry for. My problem is with exercising...too exhausted on work days, AND on days off!

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I loved the night shift itself, but hate how it ruined the rest of my life. I did rotate, which I do not recommend. When I did straight nights I stayed up all night on my nights off and it did see to help. BUt it is lonely and there is not much to do in my area at night, aside from sit on my rear in front of the TV. Can't make noise, don't want to wake the fam.

I am actually starting night shift again tomorrow night which is why I am up now. It is going to be a rough month or two adjusting. Last time I gained weight on night shift, this time around I am hoping to drink protein shakes when hungry in order to get rid of the stomach growling, but not go crazy. I also find that at night I want something hot, like soup. On my days off, it is super hard to control the hunger and sitting on my but. I need to find a 24 hour gym or something but they all seem to be either to far away or in sketchy areas around me.

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Specializes in critical care, PACU.

The night before my first night back to work, I'll stay up till MNish if I feel like it and then sleep in till 8-10 AM.

I stay up all day and all night and then sleep all day. If I'm working consecutive nights, I sleep during the day for about 8 hrs each day.

On my first day off, I'll sleep for four-six hours right after work then go to sleep that night too so I can catch up on my sleep debt. Then I am back to a regular day shift for the rest of my time off.

If I have one random day off between a block of work, like tonight for example, I'll stay up till 4AM and sleep till noon.

I tend to eat only lunch and dinner on my days off.

When I'm working, I eat lunch, dinner, and third meal at work if it's my first day back, or just dinner and "third meal" if it's a subsequent consecutive day.

Now that I've written it all out, it sure is quite a complex schedule.

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