Night Shifters....How do you stay rested?

Ruby Vee, BSN · Dec 6, 2007

hello....night shifters. i start the nights next january. how do you stay rested during the day and be ready for the next night? do you go straight to bed soon as you get home after the morning change of shift report? what is your routine like, in terms of work and rest? do you have suggestions on how to keep personal health as a night shifter?
thank you very much

this has been discussed a lot, and there are several very good, informative threads if you run a search. in general, make your sleep a priority. you wouldn't dream of allowing friends or family to wake you at 3 am to chat; be equally protective of your sleeping time during the day. this may require some stern chats (especially with your parents -- i've been working nights off and on for 30 years, and my parents still don't get it!) and some creative thinking.

i go to sleep as soon as i get home -- and my biggest hope as i leave the employee parking lot is that i can wait until i get home to go to sleep! i have black-out blinds in my bedroom (on a budget, aluminum foil works just as well and as the added bonus of being a conversation starter -- your neighbors may think you're growing marijuana!) i turn off the phone and the answering machine and turn off the ringer on my cell phone, which i put next to the bed. if there's an emergency with my folks, dh can text page me, and i'll check it when i wake up. if the house isn't on fire or the roof isn't caving in, i don't want to be woken up anyway!

it's best if you can work your nights in a stretch -- you didn't say if you were rotating or not. i rotate -- 4 weeks of days, 2 weeks of nights. some folks work 2 days/1 night and so forth, but i've found it works better of me to do 2 weeks of nights. i stay as much to a night time schedule on my days off as possible. meet your friends for breakfast or dinner, not for lunch! (my first date with dh was breakfast after a 12 hour night shift -- it lasted until 2pm!)

eat well. i eat breakfast when i get home, before i go to bed and dinner just before i go to work. (12 hour shifts.) then i eat lunch in the middle of my shift -- usually leftovers from dinner two nights ago. my point is, eat a meal, don't just graze all the time. and avoid junk food no matter how tempting the bag of chips in the vending machine may look. i know people who have lost weight on night shift, but i tend to gain.

exercise helps, too. i work out when i get up, weather permitting, and sometimes a brisk climb up 8 flights of steps will perk you up in the middle of the night like nothing else can!

hope this helps!

EmmaG, RN · Dec 6, 2007

When traveling, aluminum foil is my friend LOL.

But I gotta say... EIGHT flights of steps ??

I'd rest very well after doing that. In peace, even :lol2:

DolphinRN84, MSN, RN, APRN, NP · Dec 6, 2007

I work permanent nights. After coming home I usually grab some breakfast, wait about an hour or so and then head to sleep. Can't really sleep on a full stomach. If I'm working a 12 hour night, I get up at about 230, hang around for awhile and then eat an early dinner. If it's an 8 hour night, I usually wake up about 6ish, eat dinner and then hang around for awhile again. :) Since I had a couple of days off, I'm going to be working at 7 tonight- and I just slept as usual last night, had some breakfast just now, and will nap a little later. I still wake up tired for work, (same if I was working the day shift) but I find this best works for me. And the other posters are right about turning your phone off- after all you have to get some sleep!

Pediatric Critical Care Columnist · Dec 6, 2007

At the bottom of your sceen is a box with the title "Similar Threads". Have a look there; it'll save you some search time.

AprilRNhere · Dec 6, 2007

Do you have kids? That makes the juggling a little more difficult but still ok.

I usually come home...eat something light...then head to bed within an hour. If I work again that night...I set my alarm for 8 hours later...and turn off the phones.

I know people who sleep for 3-4 hours when they get home..and then again in the evening before work..but that has NEVER worked for me. I make sure to still get a normal 7-8 hours a night {day**

If you can't turn off your phone for whatever reason....lol...and you have persistant friends/family who consistantly call during the day...explain it to them. For my dh....I finally called HIM at 3 am and casually asked "hi honey...how was your nap?" as he'd done to me at noon for months. He quickly "got it" and stopped bothering me during sleep time.

MNmom3boys · Dec 6, 2007

For my dh....I finally called HIM at 3 am and casually asked "hi honey...how was your nap?" as he'd done to me at noon for months. He quickly "got it" and stopped bothering me during sleep time.

:lol2: :uhoh3:

This one made me laugh! DH would not try this, but I know other who will... I'll have to keep it in mind... :devil:

Anyway, to OP - other poster have mentioned other threads, and I agree that there are several out there. I'm including a link to one with a slightly different title. https://allnurses.com/forums/f8/night-shft-survival-264496.html You might also try searching "graveyard shift". I've read through lots of these - good tips and suggestions in many of them.

Good-luck to you in your new shift experience!

caliotter3 · Dec 6, 2007

When I work night shift I am usually never fully rested. The rest I do get is not enough and not good quality sleep. I spend most of any days off sleeping. One of the biggest problems I find is that there are just some things in life that have to get done during the day that can't be avoided and this interrupts any kind of schedule I've set. As said before, there are many tips given in the many threads on this subject. Exercise at the proper time is a very good suggestion that I recommend. You really have to try out several of the suggestions and find out what works best for you. Good luck.

AprilRNhere · Dec 6, 2007

You really just have to set sleep as a priority. I'd never make an appointment at 3 am...so if I'm working nights....I don't consider making one at 11...or noon. FInd out what sleep schedule works best for you...and protect it. If I need to do something during the day..I ask off. Just as I would if I were working a 8-5 type job. Not only do I need the sleep....but it's not fair to slight my patients by giving them a sleepy nurse that isn't mentally sharp when caring for them.

loricatus · Dec 6, 2007

I had a neighbor (nasty, divorced 50ish year old that moved in with his mommy) who, practically every day, after coming home from his job around 3pm, would start a racket in his driveway located directly next to my bedroom window. He knew I was sleeping and was doing this on purpose. I finally got him to stop by coming home for my dinner break at 3-4 AM, after having my husband loosening the muffler a bit for extra noise, glaring my hi beams while in my driveway to go into his bedroom window, rolling down the windows to have the radio blast and having my car alarm 'accidently' go off when I returned to my car to get back to work. Did wonders to get my point across that I was serious about wanting some peace and quiet during MY sleeping time.

Pediatric Critical Care Columnist · Dec 6, 2007

I wish I could have done something like that! Our house is very close to the lot line for the house next door, only about 4 feet of grass between the house and the next driveway. And of course our bedroom is at that corner of the house closest to the neighbor's garage. It's a rental property and there has been a lot of turnover there, so the problems vary. One family had two kids; the mom disciplined by standing in the kitchen and screaming at them out the window in French. And she would invite a crowd of her friends and their kids over for pool parties in the summer, when the windows were open... Next family had a diesel pickup truck that sat on the drive right next to the bedroom. He worked in the oil patch and would get up at 0400 every day to drive out to the job. No matter the weather, he started the truck at 0415 and let it idle for 1/2 an hour. I work alternating days and nights, so this was a big disruption to my last hour or so of sleep before a day shift. The current family aren't too bad. They do like to shovel their snow at odd hours, but that's all so far...

Montessori Mommy · Dec 6, 2007

I have a cell phone to which only my husband and mother have the number. I resisted the urge to give the number to the hospital. That way, the only phone calls I can get when I'm alseep during the day are real emergencies! The house phone & answering machine are off when I sleep. My daughters' school know to call my husband in an emergency. He can reach me right away if it's truly worth waking me.

It works for me!