Night Shift...............

IamRN · Jun 23, 2004

I loved night shift...when I was single. It is a bit taxing on one's social life, at least I found it to be. Then again, I am naturally a night creature. However, I remember always feeling tired.

The night shift diff is a positive.

Night shift work requires a bit more autonomy than any other shift does; this can be a good thing or not, depending on your skills and/or supportive team members.

Good luck!

Gator,SN · Jun 23, 2004

I like nightshift but I do find it hard to sleep during the day. I only work 3 days a week so its hard to switch from days to nights sometimes. Like now, Its 1am and I'm not tired. My day off tomorrow and I'll be dragging. The shift differential is nice though.

memphispanda, RN · Jun 23, 2004

I'm a new RN and I love nights. Staffing is the only real problem for me--we have more patients than other shifts, and there aren't many people who want to work nights. The good things: more $, less dealing with the "big wigs", the night staff members are great.

I haven't had problems sleeping during the day at all. I work 3 12s and have had no problems switching back and forth from sleeping days and nights. I think it's very individual though.

Ortho_RN · Jun 24, 2004

Ok, well I will be the negative one.. :)

I HATED nights!!! I'm also a new grad, and started at night due to the shift differential.. But it literally kept me sick.. (didn't help that I found out later that I have Narcolepsy) I'm married but with no kids, so I thought it would work out well, and maybe it would if we did 12hr shifts, but we do 8s so that is 5 days that I have to work nights, and when I was off all I wanted to do was sleep...

Pros.... Less people running around... Family, Physical Therapy, Case Managers, DOCTORS

Cons........ Usually a heavier pt load on nights, less help when needed, and a messed up social life..

Good Luck. Everyone is different.. Its worth a shot..

Ari RN, BSN, RN · Jun 24, 2004

Thank-You all for your opinions!!!!! :)

kar212 · Jun 24, 2004

I worked for over six years on evening shift and just recently I started working nights. It's not bad at all. If you sleep during the day, you still have your evenings to yourself (if you don't work 12 hour shifts). I do fairly well sleeping during the day. I keep the air conditioner on to keep the room really cool and I put cardboard in the window to keep the room dark. I also use a sleep mask. I usually get at least 7 hours of sleep after working a shift unless I have the next day off. I find that there is more opportunity to have a social life if you work nights than if you work evenings. My husband also works the night shift in another career field. We don't have any children yet. I can see where it would be much more difficult if you had children.

Some people work the night shift and are perpetually tired. To me, this is no way to live. I try to make sleep a priority.

Working nights is also much more calm than working the day shift. Less distractions. Not that things don't get crazy at times.

I wish you the best!