night shift is really hard on me...

[LuvPedsNrsg]

I just started working as a new grad on a night shift position. This is not my desired position and its been really hard on me. I've been added to the waiting list for days, but now mgt is trying to add nurses before me who have been there longer than me. So I'm thinking I will be doing nights on this unit for a minimum of 2-3 years. I'm a person who is prone to depression and anxiety and working nights is exacerbating this problem with the lack of sleep and odd hours.

I want to start looking for another job either outside of this hospital or in a different department. I understand I probably won't get hired immediately somewhere else, but I want to get the ball rolling. Should I discuss this with my nurse manager asap or should I wait a few more months?

[Horseshoe, BSN, RN]

i know that you don't understand this, but it's you who doesn't get it. you are whining. you made the decision to go into nursing and then to work in a place that staffs 24/7. you're going to have to work some nights. either suck it up and deal or opt out and find a job in a place that doesn't staff 24/7. your colleagues shouldn't have to work their share of nights and your share, too.

we get it. unfortunately, night shift is a fact of hospital nursing. it's hard on most of us. if you don't wait it out and do your utmost to adapt, you won't know whether or not you're capable of adapting. if there truly are some people who are just not meant to work nights, they ought not to be working in an environment that staffs 24/7.

i respectfully disagree.

my hospital staffs 24/7, but they have set night shift staff and day shift staff. there is no rotating of shifts. on my unit, for the most part, the night shift has chosen to work that shift and most of them say they would never want to work day shift. our day shift is extremely busy-icu-if your patient travels, you travel, then you run like a gerbil trying to catch up with your other patient when you get back. tests, doctors, family members all take up an incredible amount time and energy-night shift doesn't usually have to contend with those things for the most part. night shift nurse to patient ratio is the same as days 2:1. not that they don't work very hard, they do...but there are a few hours during the middle of the night when it's quiet for the most part-great time to chart and catch up on every single thing you need to do. there is not that feeling of total urgency and stress. and the differential is significant.

i worked 6 months on night shift. i didn't complain, as i was a new grad, low man on the totem pole, etc. but i immediately put my name on the day shift waiting list. my nurse manager was aware i didn't do well at night (i'd get light headed, nauseated, not as sharp as i wanted to be). she figured it would be best not only for me, but for the patients for someone like me who was so wired for days (even as a teen, i'd always be in bed by ten or so and up early bright eyed and busy tailed) to work days. since no one on night shift wanted to work days, my turn came quickly.

in my experience, it's perfectly reasonable to have a preference for a particular shift and not have to just accept rotating as part of the deal. the night shift nurses in my unit would agree with me. maybe i just got lucky to land at my facility. but i think that happy nurses make good nurses and someone at my hospital figured that out a long time ago.

[joanna73, BSN, RN]

While it is acceptable to have a preference of shift, I would also agree that everyone needs to accept the fact that, at least for a period of time, you may have to work the shift you don't want, and try to adapt. This is the same issue that presented itself when I used to manage in various hotels. New hires or less senior staff were sometimes unhappy with nights. I used to ask, "What were you expecting?" The reality is, we chose these jobs for one reason or another. So, be prepared that you may not get what you want. Having trouble working night shift might be a deterrent for some people in choosing a profession, then. I actually prefer nights, so I don't care. In the end, though, someone has to work these shifts.

[Vtachy1]

It is very hard on me too. I have worked nights for 20 years now. I hate it, but its worth it to me, I love my job with all my heart. But it is taking a toll on me, the older I get the more side effects I have for the lack of sleep. But at this point I think my sleep is so messed up there is no way to get out of it ever. I do have an appointment in Feb with my doctor to see if there's any reason I can't sleep. I've never been able to sleep but I've always been able to cope and carry on. Now I'm having jaw pain (had this for 7 years, the less sleep I have the worse and more intense my jaw pain is).

Because of the seratonin/melatonin shift in our brains, us night shift workers are at more risk for anxiety and stress and depression. The older I get the more I see the effects of this. I've never taken prescriptions for anxiety or depression or insomnia. In the past I took benedryl, but it causes my blood pressure to elevate and makes me a nervous wreck. I'm a nervous nelly anyway! Melatonin is uselesss, may as well be drinking water, it would be better anyway!

Night shift has its pros, and this is why I continue to work on nights. To me its worth it to be available to my kids and my grandma if they need me for appts., activities, etc. I may die young because of it but that's A-OK with me. Its worth it to be available for my family, and I like the atmosphere at night, and I LOVE the idea that I'm getting to go to bed when the rest of the world is just going to work.

When my grandma broke her hip on 2007, I quit work for 2 years to care for her. During this time I didn't sleep really all that great anyway. It was tons better but still not able to sleep very much. So I figure, I can't sleep I may as well be working,right? THis is a question I want to address with my doctor and see what he thinks. I would love to talk to a sleep specialist and see what they say too. I feel like I've tried everything under the sun and I just cannot sleep ever. Sometimes metabolic disorders can be the cause like thyroid etc.

You are not alone, I hate nights too. WHY oh WHY didn't I become a teacher or lawyer or something where I could rest my head and snooze on a soft pillow every night?

[carolmaccas66, BSN, RN]

When I finish nightshift, the last thing I do is sleep.

I go home sometimes and change, have breakfast, then I go out to do all my shopping or get petrol for the car, or something like that. Sometimes I even wait till the shops open and go shopping for clothes etc, stop and have a coffee, then try to get some sun. I didn't find this hard, I found it helped me sleep. Later, I'd sleep for 5-6 hours, and I would wake up feeling refreshed.

Let your body get naturally tired and that helps.

If your health can't handle it - not everyone can do nightshift, my brother absolutely loathed it - then try to get another job (even non-nursing), or can you do afternoon shift instead? That way you get to sleep in a bit as well.

Nightshift is not for everyone.

[carolmaccas66, BSN, RN]

The first thing that I would do, is review how you are sleeping. The first week or so that I started working the night shift, I literally, thought I was going to die, and some days...it is hard...but overall, it pays more and there is less hassle...I wouldn't trade it for anything. Here is what I do.

1. If you work 12 hour shifts, your goal when you come home is to eat and then go to bed. If you use the time to go grocery shopping, etc...it cuts into your sleep. I never do anything, on the days that I work, except work.

2. I get up about 2 1/2 hours before my scheduled shift...that gives me plenty of time, without rushing, to get ready, fix something to eat, etc.

3. I have learned to keep a small cheap fan on in the room to drown out traffic whiz (I live near a main road).

4. If I have a long stretch off, the day I work, I take one children's Benedryl..OTC.

5. I am a firm believer in aromatherapy...it also conditions your body to associate the scent with sleep.

6. Make sure all my uniforms are clean and ready to go...the goal is minimal effort when I get up.

Now, this is what I DON'T do:

1. I work with nurses that take Ambien and Ativan to help with sleep, almost on a daily basis...to me, this is not a good practice and both of these products are addictive. Any type of sleep aid, can cause a degree of dependence in as little as 3 days, if taken daily.

2. I exercise, but not on the days I work...unless you are really used to it, the endorphin dump can actually keep you awake.

Excellent advice. I too keep a fan in the room, as I find the noise soothing, but I get hot anyway.

Also taking 2 x paracetamol (Tylenol) can help you drop off as well. Try to relax and find what works best for you.

I told my hospital (thru my agency) that I cannot work medical wards anymore. I am too old, and am getting so I can't handle the smell of faeces - it just gets to me - I can't even sleep as the smell stays in my nose etc after I get home. They were fine with it.

Sometimes you don't know what a career or shiftwork will be like until you actually are working it for a living. So I suppose it's easy to say 'stick it out'. But I'd be talking to ur manager about how you feel to give him/her a heads up, and try to go on a different shift, and you have 2 years experience so ur not 'new' really.

In the end it's your body and your health. I was only saying on another thread I started that I have been a RN for 2 years now, but I feel like I've aged 10 years in that time - and it's showing.

Do what is right for you and your body.

[carolmaccas66, BSN, RN]

I was just reminded of a story a friend told me.

She said (back in the old days) she worked 7, 8 hour nights in a row, and when she came home to her hubby, he thought she was drunk and took her back to the hospital's ED. She said she couldn't even communicate properly and couldn't get her brain and tongue into gear, she felt so bad. She had to have 4 days off just to recover. Then she quit that job. She told me she was lucky on that last nightshift not to cause a serious MVA, kill someone else or herself, as she was so tired. So no, n/shift is not for everyone. You have to literally think of your health, safety and sanity, and of others' health & safety etc as well.

It also depends what ward/type of facility you work in as well. Go back and study for something where u don't have to work n/shift maybe, or go thru a nursing agency where u don't have to do n/shift.

[oinch97]

I too would tend to agree that you should give it some time. I started as a "nurse intern" on a floor working days, then due to some staffing needs, was moved to nights. At first I thought I would never adjust, and my family truly worried about me because of some past mental health issues I'd had. But, I had no choice...I had bills to pay, needed health insurance, etc. I eventually adjusted, and now even as an RN I prefer to work nights, to the extent that even if I work a day shift, I get physically sick lol. I would follow all the great tips posted above. I myself have a "sound machine" and if I need a little time to wind down before going to sleep, I watch tv for a bit. I have "black-out" curtains in my bedroom (JC Penney has some on clearance on their outlet web site, by the way), and the sound machine is pretty good at drowning out all the little noises that come from having very close neighbors who seem to be very adamant about their yard work, even in winter.

If, after a few more months, you just cannot bear to work night shift, talk to your manager again. Sometimes it's just one more thing on that list of things we don't love, but we have to do.

[cRyo, BSN, RN]

Very old thread worth reviving. I disagree with some nurses who say basically suck it.

here's my story. 

I applied for a morning shift part-time position however due to seniority it was granted to a tenured night shift nurse. Recently, there was an opening for a part-time position night shift, but it was granted to another tenured nurse, which I fully understand. 

Several weeks after I started in the unit,  I started having a lot of medical problems like skin hives and severe insomnia. I have been to several doctors but without any answers. All my lab works were normal or negative, but I am having all these symptoms. I’ve been trying to manage in the last 6 months but recently I started having terrible eye pain, dizziness, and headaches. I had to call in 2 days in a row which I hate doing as I understand how vital each RN in every shift.  

With all these being said, I am requested to go part-time in the medical unit or if I can be released before my first year to move to another unit where I can work part-time. I understand that nursing as a profession was never meant to be stress-free. I love my job, but I need to listen to my body too. The last thing I want to do is to call in every week and be a burden to the staffing or show up to work with all these symptoms and perform mediocrely and compromise the welfare of my patients.

work should not be a suck it up kinda environment. my body is in so much stress it is asking for help. there should be a halfway were management and the employees needs can both be met. My managers gave me a part time position and hoping to go on days. this is not about convenience. so while I understand you, it is just difficult for some.

[SmilingBluEyes]

Hopefully 11 years after this thread was created, the OP is either on dayshift or adjusted to nights.

This is one old thread.