Nights for an insomniac??

jamonit · Apr 15, 2007

i have the same situation as you with this one...i am usually up anyway, don't sleep easily and would enjoy the pace better at night. but it's the whole "what if this screws me up and i'm stuck on this shift?" thing. i don't know if it's best to do three nights in a row, or to space them out....

can they put you on a list for days? a lot of places will do that.

crissrn27, RN · Apr 15, 2007

Night shift is killing me, but there are several nurses that love it. Maybe try it out for awhile and see if it works? I do this and it has helped 2 on, 2 off, 2 on 3off, like that.

TrudyRN · Apr 15, 2007

Nights are great if you work them willingly. I force myself to sleep in the morning when I get off, wake up around 2-4 hours later, get up and do things, then lie down again at maybe 3,4,5, or 6 and sleep until the alarm goes off at 9. I also tend to need to close my eyes at some point between 2 and 4 a.m.

I do 3 on, 1 off, 4 on, 2 off.

nursesaideBen · Apr 15, 2007

I got hired for a night shift position on fri. sat. and sun each week when I graduate, I've worked this as a CNA before and usually by the end of a twelve hour shift by the time I do my 45 minute drive home I wind down enough that I can get about 6 hrs of sleep and then during the week if I'm off from school or something I'll stay on a variation of my night shift sleep cycle and get up late in the evening and stay up most of the night. I love night shift and I'm a better person towards my family and friends when I do night shift lol :smilecoffeeIlovecof

Tweety, BSN, RN · Apr 15, 2007

I worked nights for 13 years. When I worked 8-hour shifts I would work out before work. When I switched to 12's I would work out the four days off. So working out was never a problem.

I am a problem sleeper at nights, and found that working nights didn't fix that, because I became a problem sleeper during the daytime.

kjmrnmom · Apr 15, 2007

I had been on days for years when I took a night position. It was 6 nights on and then 2 days every other week for benefits. I am pursuing an MSN so the downtime on nights allows me to do some research. In the summer, I could come home and lay in the sun, fall asleep there just to get enough light. In the winter it is a little more difficult but since its dark when I get home, I go right to sleep. I would say give it a try. If you think you can't do it long term, put in a bid as soon as another shift opens up. For now, as a new nurse I would say plan a year for experience and then look at other options like home care or something that would insure you were on days. Or just wait for the bid position. Give yourself a reasonable time frame. You can do anything for a year - I worked as a prison gaurd for a year - :idea: then I became a nurse

LPNJessi · Apr 16, 2007

I have a hard time sleeping at night even when I work days. I work 3 12hr shifts in a row then I have 4 days off in a row. It is nice and I have the weekends off to be with the kids. My husband works days and I get scattered sleep because of our 1 year old. But it is do able and I enjoy the more relaxed night shift and not having so many people-family, management, and therapies around. I am able to give more to the patients and not feel rushed in my job. When I worked days I didn't feel like I was ablet o give my best to my patients and i had to deal with three meals, therapies, Dr's appiointments, and the Dr's doing their rounds. I