Imagine my surprise..... I was filled with so much anxiety over starting nights the current schedule, but apparently, I love it. Days on my unit are just insane. Being new, I fall behind from the moment I hit the floor. If you fall behind during the day, you wont catch up. But at night, I have time to catch up. So it's okay if I am slow because I'll get faster in time, and I'll catch up. This week, I had a great amount of support from my husband and my babysitter, and was able to get all the sleep I needed. I used static and window covers to help keep me asleep. It was a total success. I'd like to stick with it.
That said - how do you night nurses/CNAs/techs maintain this? What are your tricks for ensuring you take care of yourselves? How do you flip yourself to days on your days off? I have kids - so that part will be a necessity. How do you prepare yourself for your first night, if you did flip your schedule back to days on your days off?
One of my biggest reasons for asking this is because I have epilepsy. I've kept an open mind and a very close eye on my dosing schedule. I had no seizure activity this week (which was frankly the biggest part of nights causing me anxiety). I have focal seizures that do not cause any generalized convulsions. So, literally, it's all in my head. But, I still don't want to have them. Anyone with epilepsy - I'd love thoughts and advice from you.
The other biggest reason for my stress is because I want to balance my home life with work life. My husband was bothered by me wanting to work nights for awhile. He hadn't through my schedule through yet. Working nights means I actually get to see them while they're awake, have dinner with them, kiss them good morning before I go to bed. Days, I leave before they're awake, and go to bed after the kids are in bed. I see them less this way. But it will still feel different to hubs while he spends his day reminding the children (and puppy) to be quiet so I can sleep. Our house is just so small. I actually go sleep in my son's room because it's the furthest corner from main living areas. So, how do you maximize the time you get with your family? Also, how do you manage to not drop off the face to the rest of the world, since the world is asleep when you're awake for 3 days?
Basically... How do you make life work when you're working nights?
