Night Shift Burnout

[JShel8]

I have only been working as a nurse since last August and I am 23 years old. There were a couple months when I worked day shift. Occasionally I pick up days or have a split week. I work 3 12s in a row, Tuesday through Thursday.

For the past month or two every day is a bad day for me. My eyes hurt, I have a constant hangover/dehydrated and light-headed feeling through the week. All my life I have gotten headaches and migraines easily but this year has been going pretty well. For the past couple weeks I am getting migraines and frequent headaches and will have little spurts of nausea.

I am really only interested in night shift because I am going to school online for my BSN. I am finding it harder to stay awake and am just miserable and tired of feeling sick all the time.

I guess I am looking for tips and similar experiences. I workout often and mostly do weight training. I'm having a hard time finding the energy and will be consistent but then hit a wall every couple months. Currently I haven't had a good workout in about a week and feel terrible. I meal prep every week and eat pretty well. I am often hungry so I eat small frequent meals and snacks. Even if I drink enough water lately I still feel all around crappy.

Should I just chalk this up to sleep deprivation and the need for a day shift position?

[JBudd, MSN]

Are you becoming depressed? Are you actually sleeping between shifts and giving yourself enough time to rest after 3 nights? I literally stay in bed the entire day after my shifts, if I wake up I snack a bit, read a book (light hearted farces), and doze off some more. Even if it isn't deep sleep, it is rest, relaxing, not stressing. Use the next night to do your online work, that's the best part of online: being able to choose your hours.

I also don't switch back to complete day schedules: sleep in the mornings, do your stuff in the afternoons and first half of the night. Sometimes I walk the dogs a couple of miles after a shift, destresses me, and I sleep better.

If the physical sxs keep up, I'd see your PCP.