Night shift schedule?

Nurses General Nursing

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So I am new to night shift.

I was just wondering on how do you guys schedule your shift.

In the normal person in the morning (lol), you eat breakfast somewhere from 5am-8am, lunch between 11am-1pm, and dinner between 5pm-8pm.

So how do you plan you meal on a 12hour nights shift. At least in the most "ideal" and safest way.

Since you will be asleep in the morning around (8a-5pm example), when do you eat your breakfast, etc.? I know you can't have lunch because technically you're asleep.

I just don't want to have an unhealthy lifestyle especially when nights are very prone to it.

Do you eat dinner or breakfast before starting your shift?

I am only concerned because skipping meals or irregular eating habits tend to make me eat more when I see food and make me crave more.

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I basically flip the am and pm and try to keep the night schedule even on my days off. I eat "breakfast" around 5pm before I go to work and "dinner" around 8am after work. Lunch varies depending on when I can take my break.

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Specializes in Cardio-Pulmonary; Med-Surg; Private Duty.

I'm not hungry for several hours after I wake up, so I don't normally eat breakfast. (I was the same way as a day person.)

On nights I work, I get up around 1700, shower, dress, and drive to work. I eat "lunch" around 0030.

When I get off work in the morning, sometimes I'll go out to eat (either breakfast food or lunch food, depending on what sounds good that day), or I'll go home and make something and watch Netflix for a while before going to bed.

Sometimes I'm just not that hungry after work, and I just go to bed after spending some quality time with my laptop.

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Specializes in Acute Care, Rehab, Palliative.

I eat before I leave for work, so 1700-1730. Then I munch whenever I can at work. I take fruit, veggies and salads. When I get home I have tea and toast or some porridge and go to bed.

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I eat dinner at 1700 (normal dinner foods cooked for the family), go to work and try to eat before 0200 (usually leftovers from dinner), and then eat breakfast at 0800 when I get home.

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Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.

I worked 12-hour nights for six years from 6:00pm to 6:30am.

Breakfast was from 6:30pm to 7:00pm, immediately after receiving report from the offgoing nurse. Lunch happened sometime between 11:00pm and 1:00am, whenever a convenient time arose.

Dinner was usually between 6:30am and 7:00am during my commute home. Dinner usually consisted of something portable such as a protein shake or sandwich.

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Specializes in ICU.

I usually eat my highest calorie meal in huddle right at the start of our shift, so like 1845- something with some good protein and carbs (mostly in case I have one of THOSE shifts where I don't eat anything else until 7 am lol). Then around 0100 I usually have a light 'lunch'- a salad, wrap, etc. Then when I get home at 0830 I usually have a meal with typical breakfast foods- eggs/cereal/yogurt or something, and then I go to bed at like 1000. When I wake up around 1700 I will have a snack- a protein bar or something like that. The biggest problem I have is with snack foods that are in the unit- doughnuts, etc. Those are my weakness.

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The advise received seems consistent and something I have a mental note of if night shift is what I do. It's amazing how helpful this site is for learning what works best for individuals who work ovnight shift.

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Night shift is inherently unhealthy, did it for a few years and finally tapped out. No matter what people say you will never be 100%.

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Specializes in Emergency, Trauma, Critical Care.

I ate breakfast at normal dinner time...and again when I got off work. I ate a "regular meal" if I had lunch at all. I just really love breakfast...

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Specializes in Critical Care, Med-Surg, Psych, Geri, LTC, Tele,.

I eat something to sustain my energy before I go to work 90% of the time. I eat something high in protein, either boiled eggs, or if I'm not hungry, I'll pack a protein shake to sip on.

For "lunch" at work, I eat a meal high in protein plus a veggie. (I don't really care for many fruits) usually I'll have broccoli or spinach and chicken or turkey. My lunch at work is usually around 0330.

Sometimes, I'm super hungry before I get off work. I pack a protein bar or a Cliff bar for those times.

When i I get home, I try to eat something like a scrambled egg whites, light cheese and veggies. Sometimes hummus, sometimes boiled eggs.

The reason I eat these things is because eating higher protein meals helps me to feel less hungry / hangry and helps me to stay away from eating lots of carbohydrates.

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Specializes in Cardio-Pulmonary; Med-Surg; Private Duty.
Night shift is inherently unhealthy, did it for a few years and finally tapped out. No matter what people say you will never be 100%.
Depends on the person, though. I get more sleep working a night-shift schedule than I ever did as a day-walker.

I've been a night-owl since childhood, so even when I worked exclusively on day shift, I didn't get to bed until the wee hours of the morning, then had to get up at "oh-dark-thirty" in order to be at work in the morning.

Being on nights is much healthier for me than being on days. I don't switch back and forth on my days off... I'm a night owl every single day of the year.

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