Nightshift -days off

Nurses General Nursing

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I have been a nightshift nurse for about 2 years now. I easily adjusted to nights within my first week of switching and have never felt fatigued on nights. For my first year I had the best of both worlds. I was awake during nights and enjoyed my days off.

For the past 6 months or so I have been so drained on my off days though.

I work my three 12's in a row and feel great during my work portion of the week and usually sleep 6-8hrs in between shifts. On my days off though it doesn't matter how much sleep I get (I'm talking anywhere from 7-14! hours) I feel beat down. I cannot wake up during daytime hours to do chores or to do anything. I only feel my energy pick up around 10pm and by then it's dark, stores are closed, my husband is in bed and everything useful I wanted to get done is pushed off.

I guess more than anything I'm not looking for the advice to switch to days (it would be a 6 dollar pay cut and I love my shift and I'm a charge nurse so there isn't necessarily a day position as charge) or the advice to see a doctor (which I have).

I am just wanting to know does anyone else have a similar issue?

Specializes in Med-Surg, NICU.
Your circadian rhythm cannot take the switch. "I have been so drained on my off days."

The only answer is to stay on your night shift activities/ rhythm 24/7.

It's your choice, wonder what the hubby has to say about this. The differential is NOT worth your mental health.

And if finances are a big thing, you can always get a PRN job and pick an eight hour shift every other week to make up the difference, or pick up OT on your job.

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Night shift woes....I have them too. I'm not old, but I'm no spring chicken either, so this time around, the nights are wearing on me a lot. When I was younger, I worked 12 hour nights so I could be at my children's events during the day and on my days off. I was running off very little sleep, but able to keep it moving. Now, with my nest empty, I'm exhausted at work, after work, all day on my days off, all night on my days off. I have to add that I'm a natural day person. But with floor nursing, I prefer the pace of nights, less family, less administration, etc. I plan to transition off of nights after I earn my Master's. I hope you find a solution that works. If so, let me know so I can try it too. In the meantime, you are far from alone in the struggle.

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Love the way you put this. I've been doing nights for 8 years but really almost all of my 22 years of nursing, give or take a few jobs working 3 to 11p. However I'm feeling the wrath of it now as I grow older 54 years older, I'm okay if I stay on this schedule on my nights off, but if I try it stay up all day I am totally beat. I take one whole day to recover from my 4 night stretch as I work Thursday through Sunday, coming home Monday morning I'm beat, so I do literally nothing, I do rarely see family and I feel my life is flying by with never having the energy to live. I have done all the things with diet and water, but with little success.

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Specializes in CMSRN, hospice.

I don't know about others, but I just go through periods of weeks or months when I just don't feel good. I love night shift and am trying to hang in there until I finish my BSN, but it certainly takes a toll.

As others have said, making sure I'm eating well and exercising regularly makes a difference. I haven't had a good night's sleep in about three years, so there's always just a tinge of tiredness to every day, but when I take care of my physical health, I can still enjoy my days off. I am also someone who sleeps until the afternoon on days off whenever possible, because it is just too hard to switch back and forth for me. I find that if I schedule a doctor's appointment for 3 pm or meet a friend for a late lunch at 2, I have incentive to get up; then once I see the sun I want to stay up.

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Nights aren't for everyone. Some adjust and some don't

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Specializes in retired LTC.
A change in sleep pattern can be a sign of depression - how are you feeling lately? Also, if you are using caffeine and sugar to deal with fatigue, this can make the problem worse. Best of luck to you - I too took a big cut when I switched to day shift, but overall it was worth it for my mental and physical health.

I agree that sleep changes can be an indicator of depression. I ask - has there been some other type of change in your life/lifestyle? Other family problems? Is your job REALLY going well for you?

Keep up with your PMP. I had similar health issues some time back. I could manage fairly well for work - but I would 'crash' when I was off. Turned out I had an auto-immune issue, not quickly diagnosed. Some 30+ years later, I can still tell when an exacerbation flairs up. It's the fatigue that's the killer give-away.

As others suggest - take good physical care of yourself in the meantime and some mental health time, too.

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Specializes in med-surg, med oncology, hospice.

I worked nights for 35 years. I LOVED night shift. For me, I could not do caffeine. I drank caffeine-free soda as the effects of the caffeine hit me about 6 hours later, when I was trying to get to sleep. Are your night shifts consecutive? Be sure they are together so you are not changing your circadian rhythm too often in a weeks time. Non-consecutive shifts are murder on graves. Talk to the person who makes out the schedule to be sure they follow through on this. Take melatonin a 3 mg tab at work with your lunch (OK-I know this may be a haha time). It should be around 3-4 hours when you plan on going to sleep. If 1 tab doesn't work, try 2. This allows your body to start working on getting your serotonin levels elevated naturally for sleep. Are your wearing a sleep mask? The daylight that comes in your bedroom can be causing havoc with your serotonin levels. I have 3 layers of darkening shades, each one covering my bedroom window at the same time. When I turn out my light, my bedroom is dark as a cave, even at high noon. I hope some of these ideas work for you. I also use a fan in my room summer and winter to block out the noises outside, such as cars, kids, dogs, whatever. The fan helps with circulation so the room doesn't feel stuffy. Good-luck. Let me know how it goes.

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Specializes in ICU; Telephone Triage Nurse.

Have you had a physical recently? Labs? This may be a good place to start.

I experienced something similar 20 years ago. Although I had no difficulty staying awake and alert during my shifts, on my off time I felt like a zombie and just couldn't get enough sleep even if I slept 12-14 hr's at a time (not that I often could do that with a child).

Serum labs revealed I had hypothyroidism, and I starting Rx thyroid meds -

which helped, but it didn't fix the problem. I tried to ignore it and get on with my life as best I could because my husband became resentful I was so tired all the time and our life was far from normal.

Initially labs showed nothing more was abnormal, and I began to doubt myself. I knew something was up, but the doctors I saw told me they couldn't find anything wrong. I thought I was losing my mind - and a nurse branded as a hypochondriac is like the kiss of death. I was forced to keep my own council for self preservation. How sad is that?

Quite a few years passed before I was eventually Dx'd with SLE. It took some time before I finally seroconverted and got a positive Dx.

My point is this: it may not be the shifts alone you are working making you feel so tired. Be your own health care advocate and leave no stone unturned in your quest to discover WHY you feel the way you do.

I hope you are healthy and strong, and your fatigue goes away soon on it's own - but in the event it doesn't, finding out why sooner is far better than later. And if so, you can deal with that one day at a time.

Blessings of health and stamina for a life time to you!

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Specializes in Flight, ER, Transport, ICU/Critical Care.
I have worked nights for more than 20 years. It was rough when the kids were little, but now they are all grown and out of the house, so I sleep when I want and get up when I want. Hubby doesn't seem to mind as long as he has something to eat in the fridge. He is OCD so house cleaning tasks he takes care of and I pay bills on line and go to the 24 hour grocery at 0200. There are some weird people out at 0300, and sometimes I wonder if they think that I am one of the weird-os

^^^^ Isn't it shocking to be at the market at 0200 and KNOW about 1/2 dozen of the folks there? Those were my people!! ^^^^

I figured out I was one of the weirdo's. Lol.

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Specializes in Flight, ER, Transport, ICU/Critical Care.

I went through the same thing. I tested healthy — felt like hell. Ruutroo. My paradigm had to shift — big time. I was getting older (yikes!) and recovery was tough once I felt "bad".

I stayed hydrated, nourished and exercised. No caffeine. Melatonin 4 hours before "pillow time".

I also stayed on a NIGHT SHIFT schedule or DAY SHIFT schedule. I found I could not "flip" and stopped, that made the difference and I started feeling better.

Days off hours are held to same hours as work.

Flipping was too stressful for me.

This is tough work, it's vital that you feel your very best. You deserve it.

:angel:

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Ugh. I relate to these posts! I wrote something longer but accidentally deleted it (post night-shift brain fog) but it didn't really say anything different than what others have said. Make sure you are eating well, exercising, and taking care of your mental health. You already saw your doctor which would have been my other suggestion.

Like you, I enjoy many aspects of working nights (i.e. my coworkers, the team work, the pace, the extra money, etc) but would give it up in a second if a day shift position became available. I don't reverse my schedule too much on my days off (I was too exhausted doing this and didn't want to compromise my physical health) but find night life pretty isolating.

Working nights is a balancing act: finding the sweet spot where you don't give up too much sleep in order to socialize and have a life outside of work. Have you tried to switch up your routine a bit? Maybe start with a few simple rituals (i.e. chamomile tea before bed, no screens in your bedroom, treating yourself to new sheets) and see if that helps. I would say exhaust all of the non-pharmacological options before taking medications. In the long-term (if you want to keep working nights) you are probably doing more damage to your body if you're masking and altering what it's trying to tell you.

If your husband is having trouble empathizing with you, ask him to reverse himself and adapt to your night schedule once a week to get in more quality time together. Seriously. At the very least, at least he'll probably be more understanding of how difficult this is.

And if you find a solution to your problem that works, please (please!) share. I'm still looking :)

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Mine just put me on a stimulant ....wonderful if you want to accomplish more in one day than you usually do in one month, but then there's the whole "habit-forming, controlled substance" thing.

I must wonder what kind of "provider" would prescribe a stimulant to get you through shift work!!!

You mean "uppers" right? Nasty drugs... with many nasty side effects.

Take care.

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