Night shift nurses...How many hours of sleep do you get?

[lpnin03]

How many hours of sleep do you typically get each day??

[breastfeedingRN]

i will be starting on nights in 6 weeks. i will work sat and sun nights so my DH can be with daughter. my plan (and we all know about how those workout) is to take a nap with my daughter on saturday for 1-2 hours. i should be home around 8am on sunday and asleep soon after i hope. will probably be woken up some by a happy to see me daughter a few times unless hubby takes her somewhere. i want to sleep till at least 3pm. leave for work around 6:15pm.

my hubby leaves early for work so i will have someone come to stay at the house before he leaves. i will be home around 8 and sleep till noon so that I can go to sleep early that night and be a day person for the rest of the week.

who knows how my plan will go. last time i worked nights, i was kidless and my hubby was working out of town so i did whatever worked. at that time, i worked 3 on 1 off 3 on and then the reverse the next week. i always slept a lot after that week of 6 12 hour shifts!

[NurseFeelGood]

i can't go to sleep when first getting home as i need to wind down. i'll watch tv, play games on the net, or read and bedtime has gradually gotten later and later. lately i have been going to bed around 2pm and getting up around 9pm have a cup of coffee then take my shower and get ready to go again. somehow going through the typical morning routine of coffee, shower, getting dressed etc. makes me feel more 'normal' on fridays i work doubles so sleep is maybe 3-4 hours max.

[sallee13]

since i work 7p-7a i usually go to sleep by 9a and sleep till 2-3. of course i wake up several times for bathroom trips (which really makes me mad some days!). i would love to be able to sleep later but 50 mg of benadryl only lasts so long. i also work 4-5 days a week. i don't usually have a hard time flipping my schedule back around b/c i am so sleep deprived when a night off comes that i sleep great. if i get 5 hrs i consider that enough.

[DG5]

I have also just recently started nights (two weeks ago) and got a bad flu in the first week. I'm trying to get to sleep right away when I come home because I have to wake up at 3 pm to fetch kids from school. I went on nights primarily to be around for the kids - I hope it works out.

[ibnrn]

When I worked nights, I could only sleep 4 hrs, then my "mind" would wake up but body would be dog-tired. I would get physically ill (diarrhea, stomach cramps) on the night shift, about 4 am. I even tried taking Benadryl (again, 4 hrs sleep, then awake and felt like H-E-double Hockey Sticks!) If I had to work nights again, I would quit being a nurse and start flippin' hamburgers at Mikkey d's!!! Kudos to all you wonderful night owls who can do it!:)

[traumaRUs, MSN, APRN]

I worked nights for a total of 10 years - never, ever got enough sleep. Now, I work rotating days/evenings and that absolutely stinks too. Hopefully, once I get my master's degree - I can get on days! Unbelievable but true!

[NewNurse2003]

I work 7P - 7A and only live 5 miles away from where I work.

Usually, I get to sleep by 9A and wake up around 3-4P. I have no problems sleeping during the day. After working nights for over 2 years, I 'wake up' when the sun goes down and am ready to sleep when the sun comes up. Also, no kids yet..so don't have to be up for them.

[lady_jh_98]

I've been working the night shift for 1 1/2 yrs. I get an average of 5 hrs of sleep but as everyone know if you sleep during the day you're bound to wake up a couple of times during the day. As long as I get at least 4 hrs of sleep I am able to function properly.

[nurseinlimbo]

I work 8 hr nights and 12 hr nights (7-7). I don't usually sleep before the first night in a stretch, I get home by 7:20 or so, sleep from 8-12 sometimes a bit longer. At the 12 hr job we are allowed a 1.5 hr "sleep break" which I have started taking advantage of, at first I thought it would make me sluggish at the end of the shift on my final med pass, but it actually helps. So when you add it all together I probably get 5-7 hrs.

[LegallyBlonndde]

i work 8 hr nights and 12 hr nights (7-7). i don't usually sleep before the first night in a stretch, i get home by 7:20 or so, sleep from 8-12 sometimes a bit longer. at the 12 hr job we are allowed a 1.5 hr "sleep break" which i have started taking advantage of, at first i thought it would make me sluggish at the end of the shift on my final med pass, but it actually helps. so when you add it all together i probably get 5-7 hrs.

i am about to go into nursing school this august... i thought about taking the night shift for a while after i become an lpn to finish my rn... anything i should be aware of? and how do you like being a nurse?

[SmilingBluEyes]

I am a real princess about my sleep. I will not let the phone or life outside my bedroom interrupt whenever possible. That said, typically, it's at least 7 hours. Life is too short to screw up my health with less.

[humglum, BSN, RN]

I'm AT LEAST 7 hours, even on nights I have to get up and go back to work. I'm usually in bed at 9, and there are times I can sleep straight through until my alarm goes off at 5:30.

I don't understand anyone getting by on that much sleep, but especially a nurse. It seems as if you'd be much more likely to make mistakes, being so sleepy.