Night shift nurses

NeoNurseTX, RN · Mar 25, 2009

I switch back to day waking and live like a normal person!

The night before however many in a row, I stay up all night then go to bed around 7am...sleep till 5p, get up go to work. Get home from work, shower, bed around 830a, sleep to 5p, repeat. Yeah, I need a LOT of sleep to function and even then I still get tired...and I'm a night person by nature.

If I have days off, I'll come home and shower, nap a few hours then get back in the day groove.

Catastrophy · Apr 14, 2009

How can you get back in the day groove if you only sleep a few hours and need a lot of sleep to function?

Emilysmom2, RN · Apr 14, 2009

I have been working nites since Nov. I love the pace and get along well with the staff. I don't do more than 2nites in a row. I am just toooo tired on nite 3. I have 2 kids and am 45yrs old I guess it has to do with my family and age. I am the oldest nite nurse on my floor all others are under 30. Only one has a child. I currently do 4nites a week but decreasing to 3nites a week in may. I plan on picking up shifts when I can.

I sleep 11-3on the days before I work I also try to get 1-2hr nap right before I go. If I have off that nite I only sleep till 3 then stay up late and try to have a life on the day I have off. Everyone is different. So far this is working for me. I do get depressed at times when I have a crazy schedule like work 2 off 1 work 2 then I usually get a call and am asked if I would work on that 1 I have to say no but I feel guilty.

nursemike, ASN, RN · Apr 14, 2009

I work two twelves on the weekend and one eight during the week--usually Friday, but Thurs next week, and it can be any night. I usually try to get just a few hours of sleep Mon morning, then go to bed around midnight Mon night. My body seems to be geared for 3-11, so on nights I don't work I'm usually up to about 0200, then sleep until 9:00 or 10:00. If I'm working Fri 11-7, I'll stay up as late as I comfortably can on Thurs night (0300-0400), then sleep as late as I can Fri morning--usually noonish. I make the rest of Fri an easy day--a little shopping and maybe laundry, but mostly goofing off.

Sometimes I find myself waking up ridiculously early during the week. If I go to bed too early Mon night, I'll be up at 0600 the next several days--but that isn't unwelcome when the weather is nice. If I can't help waking at 6 on Fri morning, I can usually get in a little nap Fri evening. And if my 8hr shift falls in the middle of the week, I don't usually let it vary my routine too much. I'm not nearly as tired after 8 hours, so I sometimes just stay up all day. I used to work 12s on my weeknights, but a 12hr shift on Wed night just wrecks my whole week.

Crayola · Apr 15, 2009

I hope you don't mind me asking a question under this post. Has anyone ever applied for a day nursing position online and when you got to the interview, the manager told you they were only hiring for nights? This has happened to me a couple of times.

feralnostalgia · Apr 15, 2009

not a nurse yet, but I'm used to working the night shift at a hotel. on days off I'd just bask in the silence and go about my business like I do during the day. I love being awake when there is no traffic, hardly any noise, and I don't have to worry about someone watching TV while I'm trying to read. it's honestly a lot easier for me to operate on a night shift schedule. now, it did suck when I wanted to go shopping or I had a dentist appointment, but not too bad (I usually went to sleep around noon so there was always time before bed to get those things done).

favorite activities included reading by the fire in absolute peace. going to the park after dinner and watching the sun come up while there was still mist on the ground with herds of deer wandering through it. driving with no traffic, no lines at the store, nothing but my own thoughts and music. wearing whatever I pleased because nobody was going to see me anyway...the night shift is truly glorious in a lot of ways. the internet is open 24 hours a day, so I always had something to do - most of my friends don't go to bed before midnight anyway, 4 hour phone conversations in the middle of the night were not uncommon. it was beautiful, really. I rather look forward to being a night shift nurse.

kcochrane · Apr 15, 2009

You need to find what works for you. I cannot do what this poster says to do. My bedtime is from 8am to 4-5pm every day regardless if I'm working. If I try to switch back to day shift hours on my off days, I get ill physically. To me it would be like asking a day shifter to stay awake all night long every time they have a day off. I know I would burn out if I had to do this. I sleep well only if I'm consistent.

I'm with you. I need to maintain a pretty constant sleep/wake cycle to feel my best. When I first started nights I would stay up at least until 3 or 4 on my nights off. Worked very well for me. I sleep better during the day and I love nights. I do have to switch a bit for nursing school and it starts to wear on my after awhile. I can't wait until the summer when I have no classes and can maintain my normal schedule.

To the op: You will have to see what works best for you. It took me a good 6 months to really "adjust". Good luck!

marilynmom, LPN, NP · Apr 15, 2009

You can't live a night life 7 days a week? That's news to me! I've been doing it for 2 years now. Most of the night shifters I know like to stay on their night schedule cause we just feel better keeping a somewhere regular sleep schedule.

I work 11p-7a 5 days a week and I LOVE it! I was offered the 7a-3p, 3p-11p, and 11p-7a shift and I chose the night shift--I've worked days in the hospital wouldn't do it again. I have no problems staying up at night, I sleep great all day.

I have a husband and two girls ages 7 and 11 yrs and they know to let me sleep--to them it's no different than if I was at work during the day. I don't see them any less than when I used to work days (always hated days and felt tired all the time and was useless, would come home after work and fall asleep on the couch). I have never been a morning person, never will be, always have stayed up half the night normally, so this works great for me.

On my nights off I sometimes will be up until 6-7am but normally I do fall asleep around 4-5am. I watch movies with my family, I read, go to walmart and other 24/hr stores, go online, I hit the other stores in the evening before they close (target, etc), we like to go out and eat and shopping, go to movies in the evenings, do normal house stuff like cleaning, laundry, etc.

To the OP, don't get frustrated. It might take awhile to find what works for you on nights. For a lot of people it takes a few months so keep that in mind.

renu47 · Apr 16, 2009

I have worked night for approx. 16 years, it all depends on your responsibility at home. I had a family, when I got off in the am, I would cook, clean, when the kids got out of school I would take them to afterschool activities. After dinner, and getting ready for bed, I was also tired because I had not slept that day. So it depends on your energy level and other responsibilities. Good luck

kcochrane · Apr 17, 2009

You can't live a night life 7 days a week? That's news to me! I've been doing it for 2 years now. Most of the night shifters I know like to stay on their night schedule cause we just feel better keeping a somewhere regular sleep schedule.
I work 11p-7a 5 days a week and I LOVE it! I was offered the 7a-3p, 3p-11p, and 11p-7a shift and I chose the night shift--I've worked days in the hospital wouldn't do it again. I have no problems staying up at night, I sleep great all day.
I have a husband and two girls ages 7 and 11 yrs and they know to let me sleep--to them it's no different than if I was at work during the day. I don't see them any less than when I used to work days (always hated days and felt tired all the time and was useless, would come home after work and fall asleep on the couch). I have never been a morning person, never will be, always have stayed up half the night normally, so this works great for me.
On my nights off I sometimes will be up until 6-7am but normally I do fall asleep around 4-5am. I watch movies with my family, I read, go to walmart and other 24/hr stores, go online, I hit the other stores in the evening before they close (target, etc), we like to go out and eat and shopping, go to movies in the evenings, do normal house stuff like cleaning, laundry, etc.
To the OP, don't get frustrated. It might take awhile to find what works for you on nights. For a lot of people it takes a few months so keep that in mind.

Good point. My family finalized realized, with help from me, that if I was still working days, I would not be home until 4ish. So therefore, expecting me to be awake before then is unrealistic, since they wouldn't see me anyways. Nights allows me to pick up my kids from school, drop them off at practices, drop off forgotten lunches, homework and attend events during the day if they come up. It sucks a bit to get up in the middle of sleeping to do that stuff, but I'm glad I can do it. If I was working 7-3, I could never just leave work for last minute stuff. Even other planned events were hard because you need to know them at least a month in advance to plan your schedule on days. I expect to have my RN next December and I do not want to leave nights. My depression lifted, I sleep better and I'm just a happier person at night. I wonder if some people are just born nocturnal - like animals.

Just a side note, one the studies they did on adverse effects on night shift workers involved studying them as they ROTATED through shifts. I think rotating from one shift to another is not good for anyone. Many aspects of these studies did not include if people were on nights voluntarily, if they could sleep 6-8 hours during the day and if they were consistantly keeping up the same schedule. So I take those "night shift studies" with a grain of salt.

Tunqui · Feb 14, 2011

I refuse to work nights, :mad: first because I hear nurses complaining about it and things that the have to do to sleep, for me is crazy. Where I work people had to wait 4 to 5 years to get a rotations position, that is crazy!!! I would rather starve myself than work the night shift. God created the night to sleep. I would only considered if is part time. I know that right now will be the only thing available in this market. perhaps is going to take me months or years to find a job but I know myself and doing that lifetime will killing me. I think that it would be god for new grads that do not have kids. :uhoh3:

joanna73, BSN, RN · Feb 14, 2011

I prefer the night shifts. Whenever I have days now, I don't sleep as well. On my nights off, I go to sleep whenever I want, which is usually between W230 and 4 am. So you can see why it is easy for me to work nights, lol. The day before I am to go back on a night shift though, I will try to stay up later so that I sleep most of that day. I try to sleep from 9 to 430 when I have to work.