night nurse can't sleep during the day!

[keener]

I'm a newer nurse working nights in the ICU. The team helps me out a great deal and makes me feel supported. I like the unit, and I'm learning a lot. I have no trouble staying awake at night during work. My issue is that I cannot sleep more than 3 hours during the day, and after a few nights, I am a complete mess. I can't stop crying and feel extremely emotional. I dread going to work not because of the work itself, but because of the loss of sleep. It takes a few nights of regular sleep to feel normal.

I've talked to my manager; there are no day positions unless I want to leave my unit. (I don't!)

I take magnesium regularly which helps a lot in general, but not with staying asleep.

I have tried benadryl, but it did not help.

I have a very dark room, white noise, and do not get interrupted. I just wake up and cannot get back to sleep after 3 hours.

Any suggestions?

[Silverdragon102, BSN]

Just a reminder to the membership not to offer medical advice. I have deleted a post for offering medical advice.

[CamillusRN, BSN]

I've been working nights for almost 2 years and still have the same problem. Gonna switch to days in a couple months if possible.

[meanmaryjean, DNP, RN]

I teach an ongoing class on adapting to night shift, and my MSN and (soon to be) DNP work has been in this area as well. One thing I would suggest which has not been mentioned is sunglasses. Sunlight hitting the retina suppresses melatonin secretion and drives wakefulness. So, one must avoid sunlight hitting the retina in the hours prior to sleep.

So, sunglasses ON before leaving the building in the morning. Sunglasses STAY ON until your butt hits the bed. And if you get up to use the toilet, put your sunglasses ON to do so. Avoid turning on lights or doing anything else except toilet and return to bed.

That said- the light emitted by your electronics suppresses melatonin as well, so avoid screens prior to your sleep time. This means phone, laptop, tablet, TV---you get the idea.

[SuperAnnurse]

Humor! "What no washing your hands? Straight from toilet to bed huh. "Avoid turning on lights or doing anything else except toilet and return to bed". Lol jk...

[Horseshoe, BSN, RN]

I sympathize. I never could get adjusted to nights. Every morning at 2:00 am I would feel nauseated and light headed. Yuck.

I agree that you should try non medication interventions first. But if all of these fail, you may need to ask your doc about prescribing something that prevents waking up (vs. meds that help you get to sleep fast) in the middle of your sleep cycles.

Good luck. This is a hard thing to train your body to do. Glad to hear you love ICU though!

[joanna73, BSN, RN]

Have you tried a sleep mask and ear plugs in addition to the dark room? Also, I keep my phone off when I'm sleeping.

Staying on a night time schedule works well, although not for a social life. The flipping from nights to days to nights is terrible. Even on my nights off, I went to bed around 6 am and woke up around 2pm. This way, I had afternoons free to see friends or go to appointments.

Benadryl doesn't work for me either.

[lindseylpn]

I felt the same way my first year on nights but, after 12 years on night shift I can sleep anytime day or night 😊 I have blackout curtains and tin foil on my windows and sleep with an air purifier on for the white noise, it drowns out neighbor's, cars etc. Don't do anything when you get home, just wind down and go to bed. Don't run in and start the laundry, mop the floor, dust the living room etc just get in the mindset you're going to sleep. That helps me out a lot. I've known several people that can't sleep because, they feel like they need to be doing something. Turn your phone off and make sure family and friends know to leave you alone during your sleeping hours. Some people will just never get that night shift people actually sleep during the day so, don't be surprised if you still get daytime calls, visits etc. I can switch back to sleeping nights no problem but, some people find it better to keep the same sleep schedule all the time. I'd say it took me a good 8 months to a year to adjust so, it may take you some time. Some people never adjust though. Good luck.

[Quickbeam, BSN, RN]

I loved night shift (8 hours, no 12's for me). In order to be functional I had to "live" it on my days off. That meant continuing life as a day sleeper even on the days and weekends I was off. OP mentioned feeling better after a couple days of "regular" sleep. If you can make day sleeping your new normal, it may help. No, it isn't easy...but it can be done.

[BSNbeauty, BSN, RN]

Some of us are just not night people. I'm one of them. I'm a rotated and try to do the least amount of night shifts as possible. Night shift sucks the life outta me.

[NickiLaughs, ADN, BSN, RN]

As long as your stuck on nights:

loud fan that is in your room with you or a white noise machine.

Make sure your window is blacked out somehow. I've honestly duct taped cardboard in a window before. Not classy, but my neighbors aren't the ones ensuring my sleep

you don't say how old your kid is, is someone watching them so you can sleep during the day? Do the other people in your house realize this is your sleep time or are they loud? Make sure they're supportive of you, or they have to leave the house when your sleeping

Melatonin works, but so does calms forte, unisom (you can take half a tab to prevent grogginess) I'd do it on your 1st night shift to get you in the flow

no coffee after midnight or 1, you need time for the caffeine to wear off

eat at least a small snack before you go to bed or you will wake up at noon hungry

hope these help, it's what got me through many years of nights.

[joanna73, BSN, RN]

Tinfoil on the windows works well also. I've used tinfoil and blackout curtains for sleep.

[NOADLS]

1) See your doctor for "medical advice" since I can't tell you to request a stronger sleep aid from your doctor

2) Have you tried sensory deprivation?