Night Shift?!?!

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Hi guys!!! I start my first day on the unit this Tuesday, and I'll be working 7p-7a 3 days per week. Do you all have any advice for a new grad that's never worked the night shift before? I'm kinda scared about maintaining a normal life. I just moved in with my fiancee, and I don't want this major change to affect our relationship.

Thanks,

Kim :nurse:

Specializes in Pediatric critical care.
I'm not sure that I have any advice for you, but I just started my first night shift job last week.

After the last shift, I napped until noon and have been on a normal day schedule for my 4 days off, sleeping in a little. I try to stay up late (like 12-2am) to split the difference on those days so I'm not back at square one before the next run.

However, if I get the nights I need to coordinate with my custody schedule, I'll have 2 nights on then, off 1 or 2 then back again. No 3 nights in row.

My husband is in the fire department and works 10 24 hour shifts/month. So hopefully we will see each other during daytime hours and nights off.

Good luck!

OMG! I have the same kind of shifts! Crazy! How are you handling it? Is your body adjusted to the schedule?

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Specializes in Cardiac Telemetry/PCU, SNF.

I've been working nights since I started as a nurse and really wouldn't change. That said it can really play havoc with "life". I was lucky enough to get the schedule I really love, 3 days on, 2 off, 3 on, then 6 days off. Sure I work every other weekend, but it is great. That said, there are things that I have learned to deal in order to survive.

If I only have a couple of days off, I don't swap over to a daylight schedule. I stay up until 2-3am, sleep until 10-11a and carry on. I only swap if I have more than 4 days off in a row. The night before I go back to work I stay up until 3-4a and sleep my 8. Sometimes I will take a nap prior to leaving for work. I'm lucky though,my wife isn't working so we see plenty of each other. When she was leaving the house before I got home in the morning and not yet home when I left, it was very hard. Usually though, we would see each other in the AM before I went to bed.

You learn quickly where the 24 hour groceries are, the 24 hour pharmacies, the places that are open and cater to the late night crowd. It is easier on the body not to be flipping back and forth, it just puts too much stress on your body when you do. Yes, sometimes you have to, through circumstances you may not be able to control, but hopefully they should be few and far between.

Good luck!

Tom

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Specializes in Urgent Care, Research, Care Coordination.

I, like you, never worked nights before this job. But I love nights now. I just plan to sleep and nothing else (well...eat) on my days after work. Make sure you make a plan with your fiance and plan dates to make him feel "remembered". However, emphasize to everyone that their DAYS are your NIGHTS and you need sleep to function liek they do, maybe even more because you are going against nature. Give it a try and good luck.

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I started my job at a birthing center last November doing 5 eight hour shifts, 11p-7a. I hated it and I don't recomend it. I think 12's would have been much easier to deal with. I did feel it interfered greatly with my personal life. I had 4 kids and I was pregnant with my 5th, I really didn't have the option of maintaining my schedule on my days off; when the kids were up so was I:banghead:. I spent those months in a fog. I couldn't make it through 30 minutes of a movie without falling asleep. So, I'm going to assume that you should probably try to maintain somewhat of a midnight schedule on your days off in order to function normally.

My husbands shift starts at 3a and the person who was with my kids at night before the baby was born couldn't do it any more so I had to change shifts. My new shift is 3p-3a and while I like my midnight girls much better (so much so that I practically count the minutes until 7p when they start showing up), this shift is much easier on my body. I go to sleep when it's dark and wake up when it's still the "a.m."

Oh, one thing that I found helpful on midnights, blackout curtains.

Good luck!

Andrea:nurse:

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Specializes in Med/Surg ICU, NICU.

I have been working nights for the past 12 years. When I first started I would flip back and forth on my days off and felt horrible all the time what I found was that I am just unable to flip my sleep patterns back and forth. On my days off I stay up until 0200 or 0300 and sleep until noonish. My husband works a M-F dayshift job so we spend time together in the evenings and after he goes to bed I am off to grocery shop or I sometimes meet up with fellow nightshifters for coffee and social time. Don't expect to fall into a pattern that works for you immediately it took me 1 year to figure it out but I sure felt better once I got into a set pattern. Everyone is different you will eventually figure out what works for you.

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Specializes in midwifery, NICU.

No, try to get back to normal day time stuff, on your days off, not maintain nite shift hours, or you will never see your sweetheart!

I do days/Nites rotation with no set pattern, so its hard to try to get the balance at times. thing is, when I work nites, thats all I really do, work and sleep....I have my "other " life on my time off!

Good luck...you can do it, and nites, when you are at work , are great hours to work..I Love it!:yeah:

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Hi guys!!! I start my first day on the unit this Tuesday, and I'll be working 7p-7a 3 days per week. Do you all have any advice for a new grad that's never worked the night shift before? I'm kinda scared about maintaining a normal life. I just moved in with my fiancee, and I don't want this major change to affect our relationship.

Thanks,

Kim :nurse:

Kim, how did it go? i start my new job next week! i kind of know how it is because for school i had to preceptor for 3 weeks nightshift. just wondering what your experience was like.

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Specializes in L&D/MotherBaby/Plastic Surgery.

I am a new RN & Once i am off orientation I will be doing 7p-730a & I am worried about how I will maintain normalcy! I've been working days as a med asst/scrub tech for years (7a-3/7p) and have a pretty solid sleep/wake schedule! I typically sleep 5 hours a night (not great but it works for me) I fear not being able to manage functioning during the night & then be up all day. I also do per diem at my old job and i did one 11-7 shift which was fine through the night but I was all out of whack that day!!!!

How did those of you who never worked nights, switch over and learn how to function???

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I worked night shift for 2.5years. You will hear from dayshift that nights are easy. so they duitifully leave unfinished stuff for you to complete when you come in. gotta love it :banghead: In termns of your homelife, It will be hectic. My wife is in school, so I got to see her alot when I was off. however, if he works 8-5. you work 7pm-7am. it's going to be problematic. We had someone work 2 months on nights before getting a day job at a clinic, she was a new grad. she citied not being able to see her boyfriend or hang out with friends.

I am looking currently for a clinic position too. I have been working 7p to 7a since the middle of May. My husband works days and the kids go to school. I just seem to miss them more leaving at 6:00pm for work. They are just settling in and I am leaving. :-(

Also, I feel SO tired all the time. I am not able to sleep during the day, so I get no sleep the day before and I am getting between 2-6 hours of sleep......

Hope it works for you better than me.

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Specializes in CNA/CMA in LTC.

I worked nights as a CNA for years. I worked in the Alzheimer wing, with nobody around. The Charge nurse was in a different part of the building, so I had nobody to talk to..except when a patient was awake.

I loved my 3 12's I never did more than 4 in a row, and typically only did 2. I loved the extra money...and had less on my hands. I am starting a new job in sept and will work nights. I am told it is very boring and although I will have other staff to talk to, LPN's are responsible for patient care and do no "nursing skills". I will probably switch to days for that only reason, otherwise I would love to stay on nights!!!!

I have 2 children, and I did a lot of overtime! I did a lot of 4 day weeks! This was BEFORE nursing school. I new I was going to be poor! I did not do much sleeping, typically until noon. I had my daughter in school while I slept so it worked, and my mom walked my son while I slept. It was such a natural routine in my home but it took almost 4 months before we all became comfortable with the change.

Good Luck!

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Specializes in NICU Level III.

I try to group my nights as 3 in a row so I can HOPEFULLY have 4 in a row off. When I'm working, it's just eat/sleep between nights, but I try to flip by to daylight hours when I'm off. Doesn't always work out, like I stayed up to 5a last night and slept till evening.

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I started working nights (7p - 7a) about 2 months ago. I am a mother of 4 boys. I thought it was going to be hard but it hasn't been. On nights that I work I typically get home about 7:45, go to bed by 8:30 - 9:00 and then sleep anywhere from 2:00 - 4:00. Depending on the time I make dinnner for the family, get ready for work, and leave by 6:00 to be at work by 6:30.

One the nights that I am off I try to stay up a little later (like midnight) and sleep till about 9:00 and then get a couple hr nap in the afternoon if I have to work that night. If I don't have to work then I skip the nap.

On the nights that I work I don't get much done except work, sleep, and eat.

I LOVE nights though!!

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