Suffering thru night shift position for your kids sake

Nurses General Nursing

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Any nurses out there working nights for the sake of your kids and having a hard time?.

I'm a new RN (9 months out) who took a 4/5 night shift position because I wanted to be there for the sake of my school aged kids. There were no day shifts available, only PMs. I'm a single Mom, so PM's were out of the question as my kids would never see me if I worked PM's. I have someone stay with the kids at night.

I was lucky to be one of the few chosed for this new grad L&D training program, so at the time it seemed like a good move. I figured I'd get used to nights- Not happening. I cannot sleep longer than 2 hours at a time. I'm feeling crummy and grumpy.

I could get a day shift position in Med-Surg, however I'm terrified to work Med-Surg. Sure is nice to work with only 1-2 patients in L&D:uhoh3: !

Anyone else in a similar position?

I did 13 years of night shift for my family. Sometimes I slept well sometimes I did not. I am NOT a day person. My favorite shift would be 3-11. No family life though. Now that my girls (4) are all grown and gone my hubby wants me on days. As an admin nurse though I usually don't have to be until 8 or 9am. Bankers hours. Of course I end up staying late a lot. All the suggestions for sleeping were great. I actually did better sleeping in the light though. Guess I am just weird. People always guess I am 10 to 15 years younger than I am if it is any consolation. :rolleyes:

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I've started working nights about a month ago.... reason being - one pre schooler, one infant, daycare too expensive. (If it took almost my entire pay check, why bother working and making the kids go through that?) I'm slowly getting used to it, meaning I'm slowly seeing myself to pull out of the Walking -Zombie - Phase. But i can't do it without Ambien. I know... I know... bad, huh? But I just really can't help it. Without it, I couldn't sleep at all during the day, no matter how tired I was. After trying really really hard,taking all the right steps (blackout curtains, fan for white noise, warm bath etc.) and about a week, of practically no sleep, near psychosis, I caved in and decided to just take the darn thing on a regular basis, on the days before I have to go to work. On my days off, I seem to be able to easily switch to "normal" night sleep and do not need the Ambien. I'm sleaping great ever since, five to seven hours per afternoon... Anyone else in the same boat? How long can I use the Ambien, without it loosing it's effectiveness? Does it even tend to do that? And will my Doc likely rewrite my prescription indefinately? I could definately use some opinions / advice...

Secondly, being a fairly new nurse (two years) I got to work on all three shift over the last two years (bussy med-surg floor). On our unit, I found the most pleasant nurses on evening shift - they were kind, sweet, kind of relaxed, funny, we made a good team and we definately had some fun (even though we're allways super bussy, no matter what shift we work). Day shift nurses were too stressed, therefore too cranky and kind of up-tight and I find now, that our night shift nurses are huge sticklers... Eventhough I got great praise from all the shifts and from management, calling me one of the best LPN's in the hospital and I definitely can do my job (which I'm sorry, but at our hosp. is with two or three exceptions to meds, EXACTLY the same as the RN's job including IV pushes, central lines etc.) correctly quite independently, without constant supervision, they kind of keep riding my a** (xcuse, my language) about tiny little details, and each one has a completely different opinion as to how things should be done... I figure it's because sometimes there is a little more time on their hands afterall....??? :rolleyes:

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I've heard ambian is quite addictive. I am bummed, because i really thought my extreme love of my children and desire to be there for them after school would be enuf to get me to adapt. I tried ambien; one day I slept great. that was it. I even tried 1.5 pills. nada. If it works for you great, but you may want to slowly wean yourself. Usually docs will write you 1 script w/refill and that's it.

I've started working nights about a month ago.... reason being - one pre schooler, one infant, daycare too expensive. (If it took almost my entire pay check, why bother working and making the kids go through that?) I'm slowly getting used to it, meaning I'm slowly seeing myself to pull out of the Walking -Zombie - Phase. But i can't do it without Ambien. I know... I know... bad, huh? But I just really can't help it. Without it, I couldn't sleep at all during the day, no matter how tired I was. After trying really really hard,taking all the right steps (blackout curtains, fan for white noise, warm bath etc.) and about a week, of practically no sleep, near psychosis, I caved in and decided to just take the darn thing on a regular basis, on the days before I have to go to work. On my days off, I seem to be able to easily switch to "normal" night sleep and do not need the Ambien. I'm sleaping great ever since, five to seven hours per afternoon... Anyone else in the same boat? How long can I use the Ambien, without it loosing it's effectiveness? Does it even tend to do that? And will my Doc likely rewrite my prescription indefinately? I could definately use some opinions / advice...

Secondly, being a fairly new nurse (two years) I got to work on all three shift over the last two years (bussy med-surg floor). On our unit, I found the most pleasant nurses on evening shift - they were kind, sweet, kind of relaxed, funny, we made a good team and we definately had some fun (even though we're allways super bussy, no matter what shift we work). Day shift nurses were too stressed, therefore too cranky and kind of up-tight and I find now, that our night shift nurses are huge sticklers... Eventhough I got great praise from all the shifts and from management, calling me one of the best LPN's in the hospital and I definitely can do my job (which I'm sorry, but at our hosp. is with two or three exceptions to meds, EXACTLY the same as the RN's job including IV pushes, central lines etc.) correctly quite independently, without constant supervision, they kind of keep riding my a** (xcuse, my language) about tiny little details, and each one has a completely different opinion as to how things should be done... I figure it's because sometimes there is a little more time on their hands afterall....??? :rolleyes:

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I worked nights in the ED for years before i changed jobs- slept when I could-but never got enough sleep. the worked days for a while and then eves. Hosp consolidated and found myself in home health . liked it but had to get back into hosp and ed. Well I did, night shift of course. I had to go straight home-no stops, no chatting, take a quick shower and go to bed with the tv on some nonsense noise channel. We live in the country so not much noise. If I started laundry, or anything, I was doomed to no sleep, as it was I was side awake by 2 and that was that. Tried to sleep like some to in evening, I felt like I was hung over. Now I work 3p-1a or 1p-11p, still cannot fall asleep until 3 or 4, like tonight, When I did nights there were some days that I could not get enough sleep no matter what I did. Good luck. you will get used to it, I did, my Mother worked as nursing supervisor for over 40 years on night shift.

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Helpful hints for working nights.... this may help:

First, and very important... make your bedroom as dark as possible. I put thick navy blankets behind my mini blinds. Looks fine, can't see them from the inside and my bedroom is on the back of the house so no one else sees them either. My bedroom is so dark you can't see your hand in front of your face at high noon!

Second... go to walmart and buy the cheapest box fan you can. Mine was about $10. The louder the better. Put it near the head of the bed and turn it on when you go to bed in the mornings. The "white" noise and circulating air will make you sleepy and help you stay asleep. I told my friend about this and she tried it for a couple of days and started sleeping all day. Now her husband even uses it at night to help himself sleep better - he laughed at her when she brought a box fan home!

Turn off the ringer on ALL phones anywhere near your bedroom. I turn off all ringers on my house phones, but leave my cell phone on beside my bed in case my kids need me... but not many people besides my kids and their school have my cell phone number. Tell the kids to call the cell phone in case of an emergency, because if you are worried about your kids being able to get in touch with you, you won't be able to relax and sleep well.

Also, set your alarm clock. If you are worried about oversleeping you will not be able to relax.

Take a a Tylenol PM first, then a warm bath when you get home from work. By the time you hit the sack with your dark room and cool fan blowing you will be ready to sleep!

Good Luck.... I am sure others will have lots of hints/tips.

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Specializes in medical, surgical, reearch , clinic.

Hi, I did nights for a few months because I had twins that were under 12 months and an older girl at primary school. I thought I would do it for the kids, but in my instance, it wasn't a very good idea. I turned out completely cranky, moody, yelling at the kids and the hubby!! Wouldn't do it again. I worked casual days on medical ward for a while but now I have a permanent position as a research nurse working 9 - 3.30. I'd suggest if it's really getting to you, go casual until something with appropriate hours becomes available. If you are anything like me, it sometimes isn't worth it!

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Specializes in Acute Care Psych, DNP Student.

What are Baylor shifts?

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