Night Shift Nursing

Nurses Stress 101

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Specializes in Intensive Care.

Hey everyone,

I've been working the night shift (obviously since I'm online this late) steadily since last February, and I was just wondering what everyone's schedule is like. I usually try to stick to nights on my days off and will go to bed at 3 or 4 in the morning and sleep in until the afternoon. I seem to need a lot more sleep when I work the night shift and cannot make myself get up before noon on my days off. My eating schedule gets all messed up as well on my days off. Sometimes I'll only eat 1 or 2 meals a day, definitely not healthy, if it's my first night off I'll sleep until 5 or 6 PM, especially if I worked a lot of days in a row, and then I'll eat around 9 or 10, and go back to sleep around midnight or 1 AM to try and be awake a little during the day the next day. How do you spend your days off? Does anyone else have as many problems as I do with the night shift?

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This shift is unnatural for most people. Get off of it if you can.

I don't see much, if anything, wrong with your habits.

There is nothing wrong with eating 1 or 2 meals per day a couple of times per week. In fact, it might be a good cleansing and rest time for your body. Lots of people fast a day per week, those observing Ramadan fast 12 hours per day for a month.

Jesus fasted 40 whole days, so we can surely fast a meal or 2 now and then.

Trusts your body to do what is healthy for it.

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Specializes in med surg.

Hey mooremds,

You took the words right out of my mouth. I was about to post the same question as you. I have also been going through the same problems as you. I started working nights in March and things have not been going well. I have also lost weight and in a very unhealthy way. I pretty much go to sleep only at 4 in the morning and food habits have been terrible. My family is very unhappy with it and this has created a lot of friction. Not to mention I'm also a full time student in the BSN program. I ask myself if my career is destroying my personal life and I sometimes wonder if I have lost myself. Its a little consolation that I'm not the only one with these problems.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I hope I haven't hijacked your thread. :confused:

isthatso?

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Specializes in Medical Surgical Orthopedic.

I wake up at 5AM every day (at least briefly) because my internal clock is set to start my final med pass before shift change at seven. Other than that, I have no schedule or pattern. I am 100% erratic.

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Specializes in tele, oncology.

I work 3 to 4 12's each week, on nights, and have no set schedule whatsoever. It sounds odd, but it seems to work best for me. When I try to have a set schedule, I just get crabbier when things interfere with it...and with a hubby and four kidlets, something invariably does.

For example, this last week I worked Wednesday nite, after sleeping from about 2 am to about 10 am on Wed morning I couldn't get to sleep for a nap b/c the kids were too noisy. Thursday I went to bed from noon to 8 pm, got up and made dinner, tried to go to bed at around 4 am Fri morning but the youngest woke up with a 104 fever at 5 am, so no go. Tried to go back to bed at 1 pm, finally fell asleep around 2 pm, then had to be up at 3:30 to run errands before work. Worked Friday nite, then had to get hubby and kids off to a family function Sat morning, so no bed till about 1 pm. Thankfully I got called off that night, crashed on the couch with youngest (who was still not feeling well) around midnight, slept all night until 10 am. Then got them up and out the door for another family event by about 1 pm, at which point I was up for the day since I slept all night...went to work Sun nite, came home, kids woke up about 15 min after I walked in the door and we had errands to do since everything got put off with it being a holiday weekend...didn't go to sleep until after 4 pm, got up to have a light snack while family was eating dinner, then went back to bed till 6 am today.

If I try to have a schedule, life interferes, so I've just given up. Family understands that there's usually at least one day a week where I crash for 12+ hours. Hubby is all for me going to days, but I am anticipating that I'll need to stay on nights for the flexibility in daytime planning for school. Plus the shift diff is nice.

As far as diet goes, I'm trying to adapt some healthier eating habits for the whole household...hubby needs to lose some weight as well, and my step-dtr needs to hold steady while she waits to hit puberty full force...she'd be at a healthy weight if she was two inches taller, so instead of trying to get her to shed some pounds at 11 we're trying to just hold steady and wait it out.

Bad snacks are a rare treat...if I buy chips/candy/soda it gets consumed posthaste, so I avoid even bringing them into the house. We do drink sweet tea though, not quite as bad as soda but nearly, so I've been pushing for Propel or plain water a little more often. We only buy skim milk, and I've been using half ground turkey half ground beef recently in recipes. We eat a lot of chicken and fish. I don't own a fry daddy or anything similar, so when we do have tots, fries, chicken nuggets etc they're always baked.

I'm actually going to do a weight-loss competition that's kicking off this coming weekend with a friend. It's twelve weeks long, and I've come to realize that I need that accountability to stick to anything diet related. I'm planning on being on a 1200-1500 cal diet, modeled after an ADA diet, and having one night a week where I can cheat and have my favorite bad food. I'm hoping to get down to my pre-pregnancy weight...like before the first baby, almost 13 years ago. It is much more difficult on night shift to drop those pounds, it's taken me almost five years to get under where I was before I had the last munchkin.

Now that the insanely hot weather seems to have passed, I'm going to be doing a lot more walking. One of my friends is planning on doing a 5K in October, and although there's no way I could run it with as bad as my knees are, I'd love to be able to go to it and fast walk it.

Whew, that was way longer than I intended! Sorry bout that!

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Specializes in Psych/Corrections.

OMG!! I did this shift for one year- I think 7 years later I am still affected by how it messed me up!! Part of the problem was that I was not a day sleeper, and would wake 4 hours after going to bed-then I would be soooo sleepy getting ready to go to work. Even tried prescribed sleep meds, but didn't work. I agree with Kooky Korky-this is an unnatural shift and thank goodness there are people who like/thrive on it!

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Specializes in geriatrics.

I love nights, and I am on permanent nights for 10 months now. I have always been a night owl, so for me its no problem. I sleep from 0930 to 1715 on a work day. On days off, I'm usually up till 3 or 4 am, and I wake up around 1300. I find I just don't sleep well at night anymore.

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Something about sleeping at night makes me feel very lonesome anymore!!! Even with my sweetie!!! I am insane!!!!!I can sleep like crazy in the day...hardly none at night.....even before I worked nights!!!The problem is.........my sweetie and I have hardly no time together.....and you know what that may eventually mean......As well.....I have gotten skinnier working nights instead of fatter....gotta watch out for that. But I still fit in weight lifting and cardio so what the heck.....Just feel as if I am a sort of vampire without the need to consume anything. I dunno. Less weight has been proven to help a longer life. More sleep is good for your growth hormones. You may end up slender and young well into old age. Just listen to your body......and God willing.....you still have a social life. That is the part that makes my life trajectory precarious working and loving nights. You just have to decide if you are the night owl or the morning lark. (I have ALWAYS resented waking early..day shift for 5 years!!! Even as a baby, I was told I was mean and nasty until about 8 PM..when my Mama was exhausted by my tribulations and needed to sleep...I just wanted to stay up and have fun)...........It all depends on your biorythms. If you endear yourself to the charge nurse coming on shift in the AM somehow.....maybe they will want yout so badly.....they will manage a raise for you just to help them out during days......hmmmm. nice thought.

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Specializes in Emergency, Trauma, Critical Care.

I'll just say it was so much easier pre kids....

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I've worked about 4 night shifts now. I am a new grad and just got off orientation. So far, it's been alright, but there have definitely been some struggles. While I haven't had a really hard time sleeping during the day, it is just so weird. And I still have this feeling of guilt while my family and friends are up doing things during the day and I'm sleeping. I know I have to, but I just feel like sometimes they think I'm being lazy....I live at home with my parents right now because I just graduated from college and moved for a job. My days off are a little weird too. First day off I usually sleep till about 4-5 if I get to bed by 9-10. Then I usually go to bed that night at 1-2 and wake up sometime late morning the next day. I have found that I need some daylight and being up during the day to not be miserable (SOCIAL INTERACTION). You'd think being 22 all of my friends would be up at night and want to do things, but it's been the exact opposite. Youtube videos and TV OnDemand has been my best friend. The day before I go back to work I take a nap in the afternoon then try to stay up as late as I can that night. Usually 3-4 and sleep till between 2-4. Seems like a long time, but my body just needs more sleep working on nights.

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Whoa! Mooremds, you just described my schedule/life, lol. I really enjoy working nights, but the home and sleep schedule are CRA-ZY! Hope it gets better!

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I'd love to be on permanent nights because that's my natural rhythm. But I can see why a "day" person would find nights difficult.

count your blessings you don't rotate like me. It's awful. As soon as I get used to one schedule, I switch again.

as far as off days from nights I usually sleep til about 3pm and stay up really late. which I much prefer to days. But maybe you could set an alarm for your off days so you don't sleep too much but still get good enough rest?

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