night workers- how do you keep a normal routine/life?

[arnie1234]

Hello

I am contemplating taking a night position on a unit where I think I could learn alot. The position unfortunately is at night 7p-7a. How do those of you who work nights, and are not necessarily night owls, maintain some semblance of normalcy? When do you exercise? How do you handle sleeping on the nights you don't work? Do you still stay up all night?

[Music in My Heart]

I flip back and forth between being a day sleeper and a night sleeper. On the first day of my rotation I wake up in the morning and then stay up through the day and then my NOC shift. Sometimes I'm able to nap for a couple of hours before but often not.

I then sleep 10-hour days between nights 1 & 2 and nights 2 & 3. The morning after my third shift I sleep for 5-6 hours and then get up for a few hours and then go back to sleep that night. I stay a night sleeper until the whole thing starts all over again.

It's not easy but it works for me.

[prinsessa]

I feel like I actually have more of a life than when I was working days. I am married with kids so I didn't have much life to begin with LOL. I usually get to sleep around 9a and then wake up around 2:30 before my kids get out of school. Unless my hubby is home, then I get to sleep a little more. If I am really tired I will take a nap before going to work at 11. Working day shift I generally never got home before 5 or 6p. I was also so tired and stressed from running around all day that I had no energy for anything else. I like the interaction of day shift, but the stress of never sitting down or taking a break was wearing me out. I may switch back to dayshift if a position opens up but nights aren't all that bad. For me 3-11 was the worst shift. I never saw my family.

[tokebi]

From my personal experience, the key to the successful adjustment to night shift was making sure I sleep in the morning when I come back from work.

The first time I tried a steady night shift work, I was full-time student and had classes in the morning. My plan was to go to school right after work and sleep from 3pm - 9pm and go to work. I tried everything from thick curtains to ear plugs but could not get a restful sleep no matter what. I swore I would never do this to myself.

Then I ended up taking a part-time night shift work recently and while I'm still a full-time student, I make sure I work only when I don't have classes the following morning. I soon realized that when I go to sleep at 9 am after coming home from work, I sleep like a baby and wake up refreshed.

Figure out what schedule works for you and it'll be fine.

[BackpackingRN]

melatonin! its a lifesaver for me.

[JB2007, ASN, RN]

I love working nights. I actually sleep much better during the day then I ever did at night. I usually get up around 3 or 330 when my children get home. I see just as much if not more of my children working night as I did working days. BTW I stay up all night most nights unless I have something really important that must be done through the day. I feel terrible if I have to be up during the day.

[DogCrazy]

I have discovered that I like working nights. When I first started, I would stay up every night. Now it seems I just naturally sleep nights on my days off. I always take a nap for at least 2 or 3 hours on the day before my first night. I was scared to start nights, not sure how things would end up. But it's been a great experience for me, and I hope you have the same.

I still make time for my family, I still have time for exercise and socialization. I find life is easier if I sleep right away in the mornings when I'm doing two or more shifts in a row. My commute is such that I don't have much time for anything except sleeping and eating and driving to work when I do two or more in a row.

Good luck :)

[KaringOne]

When I work nights (11p-7a, 5 days a week) I go work out @ the gym after seeing my kids off to school in the morning-from 8:30AM-10:30AM, then I go home & sleep till 4:30PM (If there's no errands I have to do). I then get up, interact with my hubby, kids, help with homework, etc. I get another nap in about 8:30pm-10:00pm, then it's off to work. I don't usually work weekends so that's my cooking time. During the week, the hubby cooks or my children cook for themselves. My children are 7, 12, & 16 & are pretty self-sufficient. They can cook their own meals, wash their own clothes, & clean up after themselves (Yes, Mommy taught them well). If there is a homework issue & Mommy or Daddy is busy, they all get together & get it figured out (The internet is a wonderful thing). :)

[belgarion]

I am not at work and it's 4:21 AM. How does it sound like I'm doing?

[RNin'08]

I work 7p - 7a and it's not so bad, like everyone else has said, just find what works for you.

I nap for 3-4 hours in the afternoon before my first shift, get up and help hubby get dinner ready for the kids, help with homework, make sure things are ready for the next day, then off to work. When I get off the next morning I get my errands done, that's when I schedule my appointments, etc. I sleep from about noon - 5p, get up and see my family, have dinner and all that, then head in to work. I usually work three in a row. After my last shift I stay up with my two youngest kids (who aren't in school yet) and go the park, play games, whatever the morning brings and then we all have lunch and take a nap, usually 2-3 hours. I sleep at night when I'm not working and keep a "normal" day time schedule. I find on night shift I don't sleep nearly as much as I did on day shift but it doesn't bother me.

[Maevish, ASN, RN]

I love nights, but the 1900-0730 schedule is tougher on my body for some reason than the 2300-0730 shifts I worked before coming to critical care and their 12 hour shifts.

I was healthier, exercised on the way home (unless it was a crazy night, which didn't usually happen), and I felt I could use more of my day; but I had to work 10 days a pay period. With the 12s I work 3 nights one week, and 2 days the next and the first night back always sucks because I usually can't catch a nap beforehand so that's rough.

I can't usually sleep at work either, because if I CAN go to sleep in a half hour, it takes me too long to get my motor running again and it's pointless. I do try to sleep a touch at least, on my first day, but I usually asume that worse comes to worse, it's gonna be a Rockstar/Redbull sort of night.

The first day off, I'll usually doze for a bit when I come home, but not for longer than a couple hours, then get back on a "normal" routine. I still don't have it all figured out though, and then weeks like this where I have 3 nights on and they're all split (Sat-Mon-Fri) then I really have no clue.

You just have to do your best and try to find a routine that works 75% of the time cause there will always be something that disturbes your sleep or that extra shift you work that messes everything up. Personally for me, it's worth it for the 12s because usually I work Thurs-Fri one week, then Thurs-Fri-Sat the next so I always get 4, sometimes, 5 days off in the week unless I choose to work extra so that's a big plus.

[BabyLady, BSN, RN]

Here is what I do:

I have my three days together. After the kids go to school I take a mild-sleep aid on Day 1...one time a week is not going to kill you. I take a children's version so it does not leave me groggy and I stay up until about 2:00 a.m. the night before...but will go to bed earlier if I feel I need to.

So I get up in the afternoon, get the kids from school, come home, make dinner, go to work. I do all my housework on my days off...I do NOTHING but dinner on the days I work.

Then I only sleep 1/2 a day after my third day and that is enough to turn my sleep around. I usually go to bed with the kids that night...but I wake up the next morning refreshed.

That is how I do it.

[Katie5]

Exercise when you get off work on your way home. And nap before and after work.Other than that, you can pretty much keep a schedule.