Night Shift Nurses Help!

RegularNurse · May 28, 2017

Try to only work nightshift or dayshift; work multiple shifts in a row; accept that the first shift will be brutal

Penelope_Pitstop, BSN, RN · May 29, 2017

I worked 7P-7A for several years and what I found to work for me was staying up as late as possible the night before the first shift. I would try my hardest to see the sun but that didn't always happen. That way I slept the day before the shift and then the next day and so on. When I had a string of days off, I would not go to bed when I got home in the morning because I would sleep all day.

I also had coworkers who would do fine 24 hours plus without sleep on their first night. I would have strangled everyone but that's me.

What I find most important is attempting to sleep several hours in a row - not just napping.

AceOfHearts<3 · May 29, 2017

Blackout curtains and a white noise machine (like you use with babies) help me sleep.

I'm horrible with staying up the whole night before a shift, so I'll stay up as late as I can then get up super early. That way I'm tired and can nap for 4-5 hours. I find even if I'm not in a deep sleep (and I'm just laying in bed resting) I'm fine for the first shift, then I'm so tired when I get home I sleep without any issues and I'm good for the rest of my shifts.

I also keep some benadryl on hand if I feel like I need a little help. I like the liquid benadryl (aka zquil) because I can take however much I think I need (a full dose vs 1/2 dose vs 3/4 dose, etc.)

I make sure I drink plenty of water during my shift and I stop caffeine intake by 2am if at all possible. I try to stop caffeine intake by 2pm if I'm day shift too since that is what is recommended. I don't notice issues with sleeping if I drink caffeine later, but I'm always worried that maybe my quality of sleep is lower and I'm just not noticing it.