Working nightshifts

luvmy2angels · Jun 28, 2012

I went back to night shift after working days for 15 years or so. I got off at 7, would come home and get the kids up and ready for school and would go to bed around 9 am. I would get up at 3 pm to get my son from school and then was usually up until i came home the next morning. I have chronic insomnia so i figured i would try nights for awhile and make that extra cash!! I lasted 8 months and then applied for a dayshift position when it came up and thank goodness i got it!! I put up the light blocking blinds and curtains in the bedroom so it was completley dark during the day (only way i could get to sleep), but it seemed like no matter how much sleep i got i still felt like a zombie. I also had medications that i was to take at bedtime and when i started working night shift i did take them in the morning when i came home. Good luck to you!!! Night shift is hard!! :)

TrishaDL · Jun 28, 2012

I totally can relate, however I am still a fairly new nurse so I have worked only nights. I wanted a job so I took what was offered! Does not work too well for me since I have always been a day person! If the sun was up so was I. So needless to say when I started nights i couldnt sleep for 3 days. Finally I had to go to my PCP and ask for a sleep aid or I would have a psychotic episode. Lol took ambien for a while but it made me groggy. So here I am almost 3 years later and am still working nights! I dont really like it and still have a hard time sleeping decently despite the black out curtains, the soothing cds and the white noise! Lol I still wake up feeling like a zombie, have put on some weight:crying2: even on my days off i come home and sleep then at night when the family goes to bed i do too. Hard to balance it all! Nights are not for everyone! Am looking for a day job myself. good luck. From what i understand it takes your body about 2 months to adjust your sleep cycles! !

Andy Droid · Jun 28, 2012

I've always been a night owl, so I've never had issue sleeping in the day. (always had trouble sleeping at night...)

My next question is more personal ... My Dr rx'd me Tradozone a couple years ago and told me to take it at night... given that I am on nights now, should I just take it prior to going to bed, regardless of time of day??

The Pills can't read a clock.

"take it at night" means take it before you sleep, regardless of the time of day.

thompd01 · Jun 28, 2012

I work night shift. What works for me is taking my prescribed sleeping medicine when I get home in the morning. Then I sleep til I wake up. Then go back to work. If I'm scheduled off the next night I don't take a sleeping pill and I typically only sleep til 11am.

Eating at night does help to stay awake sometimes. Just choose healthy foods to injest. Or I look at it like this, what I'm eating at night I would have ate during the day so it's all the same.

lovedijah · Jun 28, 2012

When I worked nights, I slept as soon as I got home. I'd get off at 7 and sleep until about 12 or 1. Then I'd take a nap at night before work. I always felt so weird on that shift.

Julie19, CNA · Jun 29, 2012

I work Fri, Sat, and Sun 7p-7a. Thursday evening I take a long nap so I can stay up most of the night and sleep all day Friday. Then on Monday mornings I sleep until around 11a and make myself get up and get back on schedule.

Some people can't flip flop but I can no problem. I couldn't handle nights if I didn't.

carrie_c · Jun 29, 2012

I get off at 7 am. I come home and eat a little breakfast, and then I am in bed by about 8:30 am. If I am scheduled to work, I get up about 3 or 4. If I'm not scheduled to work, I try to get up earlier, but it doesn't always work. On my nights off, I usually stay up till about 3 or 4 am. I can't go to sleep any earlier. Sometimes I take a sleeping pill in the mornings. I have been doing nights for almost a year. I really don't like it, but I'm not so sure I would like getting up at 4 am either, so I am just dealing with it for now.

MJB2010 · Jun 29, 2012

I get home around 830 am, then I check my email and have breakfast and wind down. I shower, put on pjs and take a Benadryl. Then I try to sleep. I usually can't. I try melatonin. If I do sleep, I try to sleep as late as I can, but usually I sleep 2-4 hours if I am working again. If I am not working again, I sleep so much better! I try to g t sleep by 10 and my goal is to sleep until 4 but it never works out.

Shuggypie, ASN, BSN, RN · Jul 1, 2012

I've been working nights for 2 years now, and love it. I go to bed by 0930 and sleep until 1730. If I have appointments or have to do grocery shopping on my days off, I schedule them early, I'm usually good until 1100 on my days off. Sometimes on my days off I'll go to bed early 0800, and then get up around 1400 and do things. Also on my days off, I stay up all night and do housework, laundry, stuff around the house. It's just me and DH now so I'm able to get some good sleep during the day. I wear a sleep mask, use to wear earplugs, but I don't need them anymore. I take my medicine when I get up at 1700, like most people would when they get in the am. My "night" med gets taken at 0900 prior to "bedtime." I've never felt sleepy at work, but I would suggest walking the halls, and checking the patients to make sure they're sleeping. Also, stay well hydrated, and don't eat foods that contain tryptophan (sp?), like turkey.

aachavez · Jul 1, 2012

Staying well hydrated, and munching on cool crispy fresh stuff, like fruits and veggies, yogurt helped me. Eating light snacks helps keeping from getting drowsy. Also, I'd walk around a bit, at a pretty brisk step to get blood moving around. As hard as it might be, keeping the same schedule on your days off really pays off. I was always a mess if I tried to be up during normal day light hours on my days off, and then back to work for nights.

canned_bread · Jul 1, 2012

When I started night shifts my doctor prescribed me melatonin. It REALLY helped, and it's also more natural than a sedative. Google "melatonin tablets night shift" or something like that and it will give you more information. I also went to sleep after getting home and doing a few chores (such as washing clothes), and then woke up when I had to. I so much prefer 6:30-3pm shifts, but hey what can you do.