How is your sleeping schedule working night shifts?

WildOne · Jun 6, 2012

I actually just started working nights I'm a new grad on a day night rotation. I found it difficult the first shift but now I'm on my 5th and I can make it through the night with enough energy to drive home in the morning

The floor I'm on there are 3 nurses on during nights do starting midnight one goes off for 2 hours to sleep and they rotate until 6am. I haven't been able to participate in this because I think I'm too new to be able to fall asleep somewhere unfamiliar.

Anyways some things that can prep you are to eat your last meal right before your shift if your doing 12 hours and have your last coffee before 4 am. And yeah I get home and you'll see you won't be able to sleep past 7 hours if that abd you will have time for family

I've actually started to love nights because NO ONE is here you just relax do your rounds and everyone works as a team to change people or respond to bells

jmdRN · Jun 6, 2012

I haven't done 12 hr nights, just 8's. My week this week looks like this:

Work midnight-8:15am. Get home (thankfully only a 3 min drive). Have some breakfast, but NO coffee.

do a load of laundry or something. go for a walk. Lie down for a nap from 11am- 3pm'ish. Kids get home at 3. Do family stuff/housework/whatever. Early'ish supper around 5-5:30pm. go to bed at 7pm (same time as youngest.. hubby puts the others to bed after) get up at 11pm. Make coffee.. bring coffee to work.

Have a small meal at work (last night was sushi, tonight is looking like a salad) just before break. Lie down/rest during break (we have 1hr15 for break.. but sometimes take 1.5 hrs if the floor is quiet). rinse. repeat.

allnurses Guide · Jun 6, 2012

I work 12 hour nights. I cluster my three shifts together - every Sunday/Monday/Tuesday night, then off for four. After I get off work on Wednesday morning I stay up until 10:30 or 11:00 AM. Then I sleep until around 3 PM, get back up and spend the evening with my family, then go to bed by 10 PM. I usually sleep until 4-5 AM, sometimes later, get up and have a normal day schedule, sometimes with a mid afternoon nap. It is functional. I am in a fatigue stupor pretty much all the time. Fortunately I just got told I am getting a day shift position starting July 1st.

Zookeeper3 · Jun 6, 2012

I did about 15 years on nights, two years on days in management, on year in an EP lab and back on nights. So after a year of a "normal" day schedule... and back on 3 12 hour nights... I simply sleep when I'm tired as I used to. I stay up until about 11am, drink a beer or glass of wine, hit the net and then unwind and sleep until 530pm, shower and go to work.

When my kids were younger, I slept for three hours on my day off, turned my day around and was able to sleep at night with my husband and kids. I was foggy for the first hour or two and would just do what was needed. It's NOT ideal if you have kids. But if you worked day shift and worked 7a-7p, you would have missed dinner, just got home in time to help with homework and send them off to bed, assuming you had that energy after 12 hrs of work.

I was able to see the kids in the morning and for several years make breakfast and drive them to school, wake up at 330, pick them up, make dinner, shower and go to work. So when mine were younger, I went with about 4 hours of sleep monday-friday and it worked.

I also changed my schedule to pure weekends as this was easier because my husband was home and I could sleep, but I slept through the weekends with the kids, but had a normal week routine with them.

only you in time with adjusting your schedule can find what works. It really is different for everyone and there is no easy answer. You will find it in time.