Need Night Shift Tips

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I will be starting Night Shift in the ER next week. Ive never worked a night shift in my life! I am worried about the transition since I value getting 8 hours of sleep each night. Also, since I work only 3 shifts a week, what's the best thing to do? Any tips from you seasoned veterans would be helpful!! :banghead:

Specializes in Emergency Dept, ICU.

See I need my sleep and can't stand the 4th day or 5th day where I just feel down and out all the time. I only work 3 nights a week, sometimes 4. On that day after I am useless which sucks on my 4 day weeks.

For some reason I tolerated days better. I am trying to hang in there though, thanks for the tips all.

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Specializes in Emergency Dept, ICU.

I use melatonin also to help me get to sleep if needed. But it doesn't last like ambien will, just helps you get to sleep.

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This deluxe sleep mask makes it much easier to sleep during the daytime.....

http://www.amazon.com/Sweet-Dreams-Contoured-Earplugs-Travel/dp/B000CCI4YU

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Specializes in EMS, ER, GI, PCU/Telemetry.

i love nights... i agree with the PP who said you will either love them or your hate them! even when i work a day shift (like today) i'm wide awake allll night. i hate being up in the morning.

i usually get up around 1530, take a shower, have a cup of coffee, make some dinner and eat before work, because you never know when you get a break... just take my time getting ready. i like to eat around 0200, i always bring something like crunchy granola bar or apple so that i have a snack if i don't get a break then i have a snack and the crunching and chewing wakes you up.

and call me a weirdo, i sleep with the blinds open. i love the sun and i feel like i'm totally missing out when the blinds are closed. i think you get some heliotherapy that way. :)

good luck on nights!

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I hope you're taking well to night shift. I've worked every conceivable shift possible in the ED and have truly found a home with nights! Night shift is a whole different animal, so to speak. The staff is generally younger, more enthusiastic, and and least in our ED, works better as a team. This may be different in other EDs, but that seems to be the concensus around here. Working both straight days and straight nights, and mid-shifts straddling both, I've seen the differences first-hand and really appreciate the people I work with!

Staying on topic, like most night-shifters, I prefer to work 3 in a row. Even on my days/nights off, I don't even get tired until after 2am at the earliest. The night before my first shift I try to stay up as late as possible and sleep in as late as possible. I figure going in to a 3 day run with as much sleep as I can get can only benefit me! I'm single with no kids, so I have the luxury of going home, catching up on Tivo, and eating a bowl of cereal before falling asleep. I wake up sometime around 1600, grab coffee and something to eat on the way to work, then start my 2nd night running. Same thing for the next. When I get off my 3rd shift, I either take a short nap when I get home to convert back to "days", or depending on my level of fatigue, allow myself to sleep forever!

I'm sure you'll figure out what works best for your lifestyle. Gotta admit though, that bowl of cereal, or other carbs, can really help ya get to sleep after a long shift!

Good luck!

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Ive done night shift for 4 years and Ive learned to nap at least 3 hours before your shift, drink lots of fluids during the night and keep walking. Heres an example of my day:

Day 1: I get up at 8am to do errands and nap before 2pm, then get ready for work by 430-5pm and have coffee. Between 2-4am is my "danger zone" and I walk around, clean, stock or read charts/orders. I try not to have coffee past 2am because i find it difficult to fall asleep when I get home.

Day 2: come home by 830am, shower, eat a little to avoid the "afternoon munchies" and knock out by 10am; then up again by 5pm and have coffee.

Day 3: if I work again that night, I do the same as day 2. If I dont, either I sleep and get up by 1pm to do errands or just stay up the whole day so that I can fall sleep by 8pm, but you will be brain dead!!

The hardest part is to have a functional life on your days off because I find myself waking up at 12pm and staying up til 5am. Either you love night shift, or hate it. Personally, I love night shift because Ive always been a night person. However, I need a normal "day" life so I will start day shift in ER. I know Im going to hate it and be sleepy by 10am, but at least theres always a swing shift :wink2:

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Welcome to the wonderful world of nights! You've gotten great tips here. A couple of things I'd like to add that might help. I have put up light blocking curtains up in my room. I run a fan when I sleep, "white noise", which really helps. In the summer I run an airconditioner in my room - best investment I've made (both white noise and cooler). Turn off your phone, if you feel you must be able to be contacted leave your cell phone on but only give the number out to those who really might need to contact you in an emergency. Night shift ED nurses are a different breed - hope you love it as much as I do!

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Specializes in Trauma/ED.

My advice is to get a dark room where you have a comfortable bed with some kind of fan for white noise sleep there on your off hours between shifts, don't expend to get anything done in between your 12hr shifts and just plug along until you can get an earlier shift. I think the people that excel at working NOC's are not Human they are of some other Race not yet understood but me.

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