NOC nurses need sleep too!!!

Nurses General Nursing

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Sorry I just have to vent once again about the lack of understanding regarding a NOC shift worker's sleep time! My husband just came and asked me if his cousin had gotten a hold of me, she apparently wants to know if I'll watch her 2 yr old while tomorrow while she is at a doctor's appointment. I'm in the middle of my 4 NOC stretch, which means her noon appointment is the middle of my "night"! My husband knows that I sleep or should I say try to sleep from about 8am-2:30pm while my kids are at school, it irritates me that he wouldn't inform his cousin right off the bat that I'll be sleeping than. I'm now left to feel like I'm obligated to say yes and sacrifice my sleep time. I hate that my sleep time is treated like nothing more than a nap by so many people! Even my DON is guilty of it, she schedules mandatory meetings at 1pm, I refused to go to the last one, until the day and PM shift nurses are expected to come in at 1 or 2 am for a meeting than I won't be waking up in the middle of my "night" to attend a meeting!

Ok, I'm done venting, gotta start getting ready for my shift!

No babysitting for me, I took some Benedryl as soon as I got home, crawled into bed, but on my sleep mask and slept like a rock until 2pm! My husband texted me at 9am asking if I had called his cousin, but I never even heard my phone! And in my own defense I didn't know I was supposed to call her!

I've decided that I'm going to post a friendly reminder to all my friends and family on FB letting them know that I need my sleep and not to call me or stop by between 8-4 and most definitely that I'm not available for ANYTHING between those times, there are 25 other lives that depend in me to be awake and alert for them while they slumber and I cannot do that if I'm not allowed to sleep during the day. :-)

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Specializes in retired LTC.
"Lack of planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part."
My philosophy exactly!

I like when night shifters respond by calling their family, friends, and even bosses at 2 or 3 am just to get the point across! I wish I had the nerve to do it too!

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Specializes in NICU, ICU, PICU, Academia.
My philosophy exactly!

I like when night shifters respond by calling their family, friends, and even bosses at 2 or 3 am just to get the point across! I wish I had the nerve to do it too!

It is HIGHLY satisfying! :)

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Specializes in Skilled Nursing/Rehab.

I think it is so weird that if we worked 8am to 4pm, no one would even THINK to ask if we could leave work to do this or that for them... Instead, since we work while they are sleeping, they seem to think that our sleep time (while they are working or whatever) does not count. ESPECIALLY because the result of our sleeping is the same - not available during "business hours." Luckily, my husband is very supportive about my need for sleep. And I am comfortable telling people, "I work Friday night, so I will be sleeping until 3pm on Saturday. I can see you after that." It's funny that people seem to think sleep is less necessary just because it is happening during the day...

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Specializes in Med-Surg.

Only those who have ever worked night shift seem to understand how important eight hours of sleep is during the day time. It's especially worse if no one in your family works in healthcare or has ever worked nights.

My mother complained recently that I, "sleep all day". Everyone in my family works days or evenings. If I get off work at 7am, go to sleep at 8:30am, then waking up at 4:30pm means I had eight hours of sleep. Which is healthy. I hate it when sleeping "late" gets perceived as being lazy or sleeping "all day". Honestly, my family really does try to be understanding. Sometimes I still get flack for not being able to attend daytime family events, but for the most part they at least try to understand. After I explained to my mom that although I had "slept all day", that meant that I got eight hours of sleep, she acknowledged that that made sense.

My boyfriend/fiancé works more of a night schedule so he understands a little better.

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Specializes in Cardicac Neuro Telemetry.
No babysitting for me, I took some Benedryl as soon as I got home, crawled into bed, but on my sleep mask and slept like a rock until 2pm! My husband texted me at 9am asking if I had called his cousin, but I never even heard my phone! And in my own defense I didn't know I was supposed to call her!

I've decided that I'm going to post a friendly reminder to all my friends and family on FB letting them know that I need my sleep and not to call me or stop by between 8-4 and most definitely that I'm not available for ANYTHING between those times, there are 25 other lives that depend in me to be awake and alert for them while they slumber and I cannot do that if I'm not allowed to sleep during the day. :-)

Good for you! Hopefully that will get the point across to your either inconsiderate or oblivious family and friends. Hopefully, its the latter. Glad you got the rest you needed! :)

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Specializes in Critical care, ER, stepdown, PACU, LTC.

It's quite effective! When I started working nights 15 or so years ago I had a friend who would call at 11 am just to chat. I started calling him at 3 am "just to chat." Word spread pretty quick to leave me alone while sleeping! Might have helped a little that I threatened to shoot the next person who woke me up:)

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Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.
tell your husband to make the call and maybe he will remember next time. You need to "train" people not to bother you during sleep time. Just do not be accessible and you do not have to be all that nice about it either. Like you said, would they offer to babysit at midnight or 2 a.m.?

Some people simply won't get it until you stop being nice about it. I agree -- your husband should have promptly said "NO!" and explained why. Or volunteered to watch the child himself. So he's the one who should make the call. And in the future, he needs to understand that your sleep time is scared. You don't have to be polite to get the point across. (Maybe the first time or two he screws up, but the third time my then-boyfriend called me at 1 PM to "chat", I mumbled that I'd get back to him and hung up. And then called him at 1 AM. Every night until he got the message and apologized. You can wake your husband up at midnight to tell him he has to watch the kids now because Susie has diarrhea and you're off to spend some quality time at the gym. If less drastic measures don't get the message across, pull out the big guns.

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Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.
My philosophy exactly!

I like when night shifters respond by calling their family, friends, and even bosses at 2 or 3 am just to get the point across! I wish I had the nerve to do it too!

It took a little dutch courage the first time I did it. It gets easier when you get angrier!

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Specializes in Acute Care Pediatrics.

I work every Saturday and Sunday night. It never fails, on Monday afternoon I will get up a bit earlier to try and switch myself back to the day walker life, and of course - I'm grouchy. And he will say something along the lines of..

"I don't know why you're so ill, you've slept the weekend away."

And I just want to punch him in the gonads.

JUST BECAUSE YOU HAVE SEEN MY ASLEEP AND DON'T SEE ME WORK (because you know, I WORK WHILE YOU ARE ASLEEP), doesn't mean I HAVE SLEPT ALL WEEKEND.

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Specializes in SICU, trauma, neuro.
It's funny that people seem to think sleep is less necessary just because it is happening during the day...

If anything, it's MORE important. Humans are not nocturnal creatures. :no:

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