Noc nurses, how do you organize your life?

Ruby Vee, BSN · Jul 4, 2015

I work 3 twelve hour shifts. I do my best to keep them 3 in a row. I get home by 8am, shower and go straight to bed. I sleep until 4pm. I am useless to anything except my job on those 3 days. On the 4th day I sleep and recharge. Then I have 3 days to do what I want. I generally stay on my husbands normal schedule those 3 days. Unfortunately, I am always tired. I think that nights would be easier with 8 hour shifts.

Trust me, night shift is not easier with 8 hour shifts! In fact, the 12 hour shift movement was pioneered and pushed by night shift nurses! I remember. I was one of them.

Ruby Vee, BSN · Jul 4, 2015

I work full time nights. On my days off, I usually stay up until 3am and I get up in the afternoon. I have time to run errands during the evening and I do whatever I want with the rest of the day. I cook on my days off, and I keep a somewhat similar routine as far as eating on my days off. At first , it's weird to eat lunch at 9pm, but you get used to it. I've done nights for almost a year, and I've found a good groove that works for me.
Some pointers I would suggest, leave your phone on silent or else you'll be woken up when you are sleeping, invest in black out curtains, and be really protective of your sleep. I have had one thousand conversations about why I couldn't be somewhere at 2 pm, when I've worked all night and I need to sleep. Some people don't understand that the daytime is when I get my "night's rest", and that I'm not napping. Lol! I would also strongly suggest not switching to sleeping at night on your days off. My co-workers that do that fall asleep at work constantly.
And I would also suggest actually planning and cooking your meals. Only fast food places are open at 2am. It is super easy to gain weight if you are not careful.

Good advice.

There are multiple threads on making nightshift work for you, including "Nightshift for Newbies." I recommend doing a search. In general, be protective of your sleep . . . there are plenty of well-meaning folks who would gladly intrude upon your sleep time. My Dad used to call me in the middle of the day "just to chat" until I finally called HIM in the middle of the night to chat. It took two such calls. I had some neighbors who would blast their music all day on the weekends . . . I talked to them nicely. Then I talked to them forcefully. And finally, I took my stereo speakers (we had huge speakers back in the day) and turned them toward the neighbors' apartment and set my stereo to "eardrum rupture" volume for the night. Strangely, when they came to my door to complain, I wasn't sympathetic. HE got it, SHE didn't.

If you can, stay on a "modified night shift" schedule on your days off. Unfortunately, there's always some appointment that cannot be shifted to a time convenient to you -- either first thing in the morning or late in the afternoon. That's what coffee is for.

NOADLS · Jul 4, 2015

When I am doing the 11-7 part of my rotation, I have a lot of flexibility. Working nights is actually a lot better than working during the day if you have plans. You can either sleep right after your shift (ie when you get home until sometime mid day) or before your shift (sleep mid day until you need to get up for work). This allows you to enjoy whichever part of the day you want. If you worked during the day, you wouldn't really have that option.

If you are able to adapt to being able to pick and choose, your days off will be a lot nicer.

I would also recommend moving away from the city to somewhere quieter if you want quality sleep. Or sound proof your bedroom.

canigraduate · Jul 4, 2015

I miss second shift. I loved it. 3p-11p was the best shift ever. I deal with nocs mainly by sleeping all the time. My poor husband has to pick up all the slack.

If I could stay on a night shift schedule all the time, it would probably be easier, but whenever I have to work nocs I end up having a lot of daytime commitments.

I just started doing nights again and the transition bites.

What I used to do that worked pretty well was group my three nights and do them all in a row. On the last morning, I would crash out and get up when I woke up naturally. I took naps around 8pm on my days off and slept from 4am to noon. That way I had the afternoon for appointments.

Also, when I went on vacation, I would flip to a day schedule. I tried to work my schedule so I could take a week here and there and catch up on my sleep.

Some other tips are to cut down on your intake. Sleeping during the day messes with your metabolism, so try to cut down your calories. It is tempting to eat to stay awake, but try to limit yourself to snacking on fruits/veggies/nuts and healthy stuff. A lot of night shifters don't change their eating habits and get tired and groggy, then gain weight.

Try to get enough sleep so you don't need to drink a bunch of caffeine. If you drink it too late in your shift, you're just starting a vicious cycle of sleep deprivation and caffeine intake.

Make yourself a sleep spot and a sleep time and guard them! I lock my pets out, I turn my phone off, and I have a sign on the front door that says "Go Away! Night shift worker sleeping."

I use earplugs, an eye mask, and black out curtains. It takes a week or so, but you get used to them. Flents has the best earplugs, Macks make my ears hurt.

Good luck and enjoy the shift diff!

noelly10 · Jul 4, 2015

Wow! Such great advice! Thank you to all that replied! :)

noelly10 · Jul 4, 2015

Good advice.
If you can, stay on a "modified night shift" schedule on your days off. Unfortunately, there's always some appointment that cannot be shifted to a time convenient to you -- either first thing in the morning or late in the afternoon. That's what coffee is for.

I thought of a modified night shift as well. And yes! Coffee will be my best friend

noelly10 · Jul 4, 2015

I would also recommend moving away from the city to somewhere quieter if you want quality sleep. Or sound proof your bedroom.

I was never a city person. So the apartments I live in are almost in the middle of no where and its mainly hospital workers and elderly living there. How can you sound proof a bedroom though? I think this may come in handy so my dog doesn't wake me

jojo489 · Jul 4, 2015

I miss second shift. I loved it. 3p-11p was the best shift ever. I deal with nocs mainly by sleeping all the time. My poor husband has to pick up all the slack.
.......
Some other tips are to cut down on your intake. Sleeping during the day messes with your metabolism, so try to cut down your calories. It is tempting to eat to stay awake, but try to limit yourself to snacking on fruits/veggies/nuts and healthy stuff. A lot of night shifters don't change their eating habits and get tired and groggy, then gain weight.
Try to get enough sleep so you don't need to drink a bunch of caffeine. If you drink it too late in your shift, you're just starting a vicious cycle of sleep deprivation and caffeine intake.
....
Good luck and enjoy the shift diff!

I HATED 3-11. I give anyone that loves that shift a lot of credit because I felt like all I did was sleep and work. I was supposed to be out by 11:20 but most of the time got stuck until like 1:30 or 2 finishing up my two million admissions a night. I'd always wanna be up until 3 or 4 then sleep until almost noon. And I never wanted to do anything because I knew I had to work soon.

When I switched to nights, I had to cut down on what I ate. What I've recently started doing, which has really seemed to work for me,is getting up at my usual 4-5pm and eating dinner around 6 or so. Then I always grab a coffee on my way to work While in at work, once that coffee is gone, I drink water until about 4 then have another cup and go back to water. Usually by one or two I'm hungry again, so I eat a cliff bar. They're awesome because they're actually filling but they're not huge. And I always find myself ravenously hungry when i get home in the morning, so I started drinking a slim fast on the way home and it usually curbs my hunger enough to fall asleep shortly after I get home.

I started gaining weight when I switched to nights, part of it healthy because of less stress but part of it because I was more sedentary and eating too much.

And as far as animals go, my puppy dog was always quieter when I let him sleep in bed. He somehow knew mommy needed sleep and he needed to be quiet.

loriangel14, RN · Jul 4, 2015

I stay up til about 4 and sleep til noon on my days off. I don't plan meals I just eat whenever.

Ruby Vee, BSN · Jul 4, 2015

I was never a city person. So the apartments I live in are almost in the middle of no where and its mainly hospital workers and elderly living there. How can you sound proof a bedroom though? I think this may come in handy so my dog doesn't wake me

I don't know that you can soundproof a rental. Instead, try white noise. I have a large, industrial exhaust fan that I got at Sears years ago. On the medium setting, it's perfect for most days, plus moves some air around. On the high setting, I've had former boyfriends move into and out of my house and didn't know a thing about it until my alarm woke me up.

noelly10 · Jul 4, 2015

I don't know that you can soundproof a rental. Instead, try white noise. I have a large, industrial exhaust fan that I got at Sears years ago. On the medium setting, it's perfect for most days, plus moves some air around. On the high setting, I've had former boyfriends move into and out of my house and didn't know a thing about it until my alarm woke me up.

And the noise of it doesn't make it hard to go to sleep?

Ruby Vee, BSN · Jul 5, 2015

And the noise of it doesn't make it hard to go to sleep?

It's white noise. It's constant. You fall asleep to it, and it doesn't change. It drowns out all the other noises like your neighbor suddenly firing up his lawnmower underneath your bedroom window or your husband using his power tools in the basement. I turn on my white noise and I'm ready to go to sleep.