Night Shift Survival

[RNRose]

Hi all,

I am a new nurse who was lucky enough to get a postion in L&D right out of school. I thought it would be perfect since it is part-time nights and I have a young family. I thought I would be able to handle third shift, but am really struggling. I am very sad about this . I love this type of nursing and have learned so much in the short amount of time I have been there. It is my family life that is suffering. All I want to do is sleep or catch up on sleep. I sometimes am up for 48 hrs straight minus 4 hours of sleep. My dispositon is horrid. I do not even like hearing myself speak to my husband and my patience level is minimal with my children. If I leave this position, I will feel like I have failed and hate to disappoint the manager that hired me. She took a chance on me being a new grad. I just do not know what to do. I will never get another opportunity like this again if I leave. What to do??? Well, I really needed to air out my thoughts. Thanks for reading this. Rose

[frazkw]

Night nurses rock!! I have worked nights for the last 8 years and I love it. Night nurses are mor laid back and easier to get along with. I don't think I could do it with children. I normally get home at 8 a.m. and sleep til 5 or at least stay in bed if I have to go back to work. My husband is very understanding and I live by the rule if you don't call before you come, then I won't open the door. Cutting the ringer off is a good idea even though I always feel like something is going to happen and I won't know about it. Maybe splitting up the days that you work may be better for you. I have been experimenting with working different schedules (3 shifts in a row versus every other day) and I must say that the every other has worked out well, b/c I'm not pressured to go to sleep when I get off. I may sleep until 12 and then get up so I can sleep part of the night with my husband. However, most often I do not change my day sleeping habits as you can see I'm writing this at 3:45 a.m. I grocery shop at the 24 hour Wal-Mart, pay bills on-line for convenience, and do my housework at night. My husband wishes that I would sleep with him every night, but you have to compromise and make your situation work. So I get in bed until he falls asleep and then I get up. Hey! It works. Keep experimenting with different things and see what works for you. Maybe you and another parent may work opposite schedules and swap watching the kids in the morning so you can get some sleep. Just an idea.

[NurseNora, BSN, RN]

There have been lots of good ideas here. The most helpful thing that I have done is start using a good sleep mask. Room darkening shades just don't get it dark enough for me to sleep deeply. Background sound can help block out bothersome noise. I sleep with the TV or radio turned on.

I found 12 hour shifts worked better for me than 8's because I didn't have to go in as often. A previous poster found 8's worked better for her. Whichever you're on, see if you can maybe try the other.

If your kids are home with you, you're not going to sleep well because you'll be in Mother mode and have an ear open for them. While I know lots of women who spent years napping on the sofa while the kids played in front of the TV, it's not something I could do. Day care, swap child care with a co worker (that was a really good idea) or work nights before your husband's days off so he can parent while you sleep.

Good luck to you. It is worth learning to live with night shift at least for a while. It tends to be more laid back; not as many "important people" around. And I think there are lots more learning experiences on night shift.