I hate night shift

Ruby Vee, BSN · Feb 6, 2017

You haven't been at your job long enough to become competent at your job or acclimated to the schedule. There are many threads out there about night shift. Here's one;

https://allnurses.com/general-nursing-discussion/night-shift-for-531465.html

jaderook01, BSN, RN · Feb 7, 2017

I've only been a nurse since June but it got better for me. It took around three months for me to get in the swing of things and adjust. The great part about working nights is that getting the schedule you want seems to work out better than for those that work days (at least on my unit). I work three in a row then I have the rest of the week to do what I want. I tend to readjust to a day schedule on the days I'm not working (after catching up on some sleep the first day off- by sleeping around five hours and then going to sleep later that night and sleeping around another four to five hours).

I pretty much do what the Night Shift for Newbies article suggests. I have blackout curtains, I use a fan for white noise, I eat dinner for breakfast with my husband, I eat regular lunch food for my lunch, and I eat breakfast for dinner when I get home from work. I spend time to unwind and exercise when I get home from work and then I sleep from around 9:00 am to 5:00 pm.

While I don't want to work nights forever, it doesn't have to be so horrible. Actually, I find that I'm less stressed now than when I taught middle school and had to wake up at 5:00 am. It's all perspective, I guess.

Meeshie · Feb 7, 2017

If you love your job.. let them know that when a day shift position opens that you'd like to take it. There might be a list of people and there might not be. You won't know unless you ask. Meanwhile, make sure you are getting enough sleep, eating enough, drinking enough water. Get blackout curtains, get a white noise machine so you can sleep through the outside noise during the day. Make sure you sleep the day of your shift.