My first job is a night shift

[kantuta]

Hi guys!!!

As a new grad registered nurse I have been blessed by finding a job 2 weeks after I found I passed my NCLEX I am very happy since this new job is at the hospital that I love and on a cardiac unit. Yey!!! But I am scare, since I am no longer a "student," I am "the nurse" now. I think feeling this way is normal right? I am determinate to give my best and do everything in my power to take care of my patients with the highest standards as they were part of my family, and to be a good team player for my coworkers. My new job told me I would be having an orientation for about 6-8 weeks, which I think is awesome. My shift will be at night and I have never work at night, so I am hoping I won't feel tired some where in the shift Any tips? How did you (experienced night nurses) adapt to a night shift? was it hard? I would greatly appreciate your feedback.

[MohamedElsayed]

Night shifts are often quit and free from stress of day shifts but the problem usually be in the boring long time & feeling tired at the morning even if you didn't got alot of work so I prefer the day shift

[brownbook]

You ask 10 night shift workers how they adapt and you will get 30 different answers.

Every body is different. Try not to over plan, over think it. Work your shift, come home, go to bed. Give yourself a few weeks to see how you do. Then you can ask for advice or adjust your routine.

I am a firm believer in the power of the mind. If you believe you will feel okay and adjust to working nights then you will. If you believe you will feel lousy and never adjust then that will happen.

Yet I sincerely believe it when people say they just could not work nights, always felt lousy.

[ChristineN, BSN, RN]

Try to go into night shifts with a good attitude, otherwise you will just set yourself up for failure. Nights are a great place for new nurses to start out as the pace is generally a bit slower, and you are able to take your time and look things up as need be. You also don't have doctors coming around and doing rounds and stealing the chart, so you will have more time to read the patient's chart and understand the big picture of what is going on.

Sleeping during the day can be an adjustment at first. Turn your cell phone off, close the blinds, and explain to your family you can't be disturbed during the day after work.

[kantuta]

Thanks everybody for all your replies!! I am very excited to start this job. I also believe in positivism, so needless to say I will start my shift thinking positive. I will keep you posted on how I am adapting or I am feeling. Thanks again :)

[Rn112389, BSN, RN]

I Started on nights as a new grad in December and am in love. I worked days for a brief period of time during my 8 week orientation and found them exhausting. Days provide more learning opportunities however, I had a hard time organizing myself and found So much thrown at me at once. On nights I am able to organize myself, establish a routine, and research each patient's clinical history/labs/presenting problem. I am connecting more dots and have time to look things up. I don't see myself on nights permanently but it is a fantastic building block in helping me achieve a routine.

The only thing I hate about nights is sleeping during the day and waking up late with the posibility of being canceled due to a low patient census.

Just remember alot is different from school! Im still questioning myself when I should actually call the doctor at 3am and what can wait until morning. Good luck and enjoy!!! :)

[ToothFairy(5)]

Stay positive. Every new nurse is nervous on the first job. You'll do fine. Just breathe, listen to your prceptor, take criticism well because they cared enough to tell you where you need improvement, be flexible, don't overplan your sleep/wake strategies. Keep a good sense of humor.

[LifesAJourney]

I work nights and feel having a sane sleep schedule is possible. The key thing is once your shift is over, go straight home and to bed! People tend to run errands once they get off and come home much later in the morning. The longer you stay up, the harder it is, in my opinion, to sleep. Try to complete errands before heading into work. Granted, I currently have no kids, so I understand this approach will not work for everybody.

[calivianya, BSN, RN]

The best advice I can give you about nights is keep your same schedule on your days off. If you have children, this will be unrealistic for you, but if you don't have people living with you and you can do what you want, when you want, I don't see any reason to put excess stress on your body or immune system by switching the times you sleep every few days. After all, you don't see day shift people staying up all night long on their days off work; why should we night people be expected to stay up during the day on our days off?

IMO, the hardest part about adapting to night shift is convincing your friends and family not to call you or bother you during the day. Some people just don't get it and will wake you up in the middle of your "night" and not see anything wrong with it.