Night Shift

Tony1790, BSN, MSN, NP · Jul 28, 2009

I work nights on a Cardia unit, not much too getting used to it. I work, go home sleep and get up, do it again. The trick is sleeping, job seems like, work, sleep, eat, repeat.

Tony

ItsTheDude · Jul 29, 2009

10 and 12 hr shifts r the best, only work 3-4 days a week!

That Guy, BSN, RN, EMT-B · Jul 29, 2009

Eat through the night. I just got done working the cardiac unit at nights for the summer and loved it. I would try to eat every four hours if I could. Also, try to stay up at night on the days you have off til like 3 am. Its when you try to go from night shift life, to normal life that my body got VERY confused

Also what tony said, it starts to feel like all you do is sleep, work repeat. It really is a blast though.

JY10 · Jul 30, 2009

I have been on nights in a cardiac ICU for 2yrs, my wife works days so i try to get on a "regular" schedule on my days off so we have time together. I used to work all three shifts in a row but now i do 2 on 1 off 1 on then 3 off. I know some people work 1 on 1 off it is different for everybody. I would suggest doing a couple different routines and see what works for you. Get some blinds that block out all the light for your room and try to get 6 hours of sleep, I usually try to crash by 10am and then sleep till 4 or 5. Night shift is a great shift to improve your skills on in my opinion and its a little more laid back.

Joe N635DC · Jul 31, 2009

10 and 12 hr shifts r the best, only work 3-4 days a week!

agreed

stripec30 · Jul 31, 2009

Follow these steps and your life working nights will be much easier:

1) Coffee

2) Vitals

3) Food

4) Repeat

newmale2nursing · Jul 31, 2009

Thanks for the tips.

I'm more worried about adapting between days on and days off.

I'm sure it will all work out.

nurse12b · Jul 31, 2009

I had worked night shift for about 5 yrs. When I first started it was hard, 3am comes around and I start to nod. But, My biggest advise is to stay busy even when you don't feel like it get up and walk to the caf. as long as you stay busy it goes buy quicker. On your day off stay up also. I would stay up til noon the next day then go to sleep til 5:30. I only worked 3 days a week. Main thing stay busy because if you don't sleepyness will hit you like a hammer.

belgarion · Aug 1, 2009

I spent a lot of years working a rotating shift. 12 hrs, 3 months days than 3 months nights. The company thinking was that if everyone had to do nights then they didn't have to pay a shift differential. Advice from here, get the darkest curtains you can find, buy some light-weight foam earplugs, and ,if possible, turn off the ringer on your phone. Don't go too far off your work schedule on your days off or your first night back each week will be a killer.

bluemalibu · Aug 2, 2009

I spent a career as a graveyard shift narcotics officer before retiring and beginning NS. You will get burnt out quickly if you don't make a concerted effort to ensure that you get adequate sleep. For me that meant an honest 8 hrs a day. It didn't matter if it was broken up into two 4-hr blocks, but I had to have a total of 8hrs to function up to potential. The best two things that I found to help achieve that rest was to drop the temp in the room 10* cooler than it normally stayed, and to seal up all windows with aluminum foil. If the room is light, then the brain triggers the ARAS (ascending reticular activating system), increasing its receptiveness to incoming stimulus, allowing you to be awakened easier.

tilelene · Aug 2, 2009

1. Turn off all cell phones/house phones

2. Explain to all family members that you are a night shift nurse and to respect your sleep

3. If you work two days back to back, when you come home the second day, do not sleep all day. Try to sleep until approx 12 than get up and try to resume a normal day schedule. Try not to sleep that entire day because it will throw you off.

4. Eventually, you will figure out what works for you but those are the top things to remember. Enjoy! I love night shift.