7pm-7am shift

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so i am on week 3 of my contract to work, 7pm to 7am.

its an ok shift, but i am eating way way too much stuff from the vending machine! especially around 4 am.i get sleepy and starting eating sugary stuff.

does anyone have any ideas of how to combat sleepiness without eating a bunch of sugary stuff?

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Specializes in Critical Care, Med-Surg.

Drinking water and chewing gum helps me to snack less.

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i could try that..im such a caffeine addict already though! i bring a 1 liter bottle of coke with me, and then end up getting a 20 oz bottle towards the end of the shift. honestly, ive noticed that everyone at the hospital has terrible eating habits! i saw a nurse eat a bowl of cut up slim jims and nacho sauce, once! :lol2: im going to try and cut back though.

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When I work night shift I try to get up every hour and take a 15 minute walk. Sometimes you have time for this and sometimes you don't, but I find that when I do this it really helps to wake me up. We have a candy bowl on our unit and I only allow myself to eat out of it on weekends. I find that if I allow myself to even eat one candy from the bowl, it's over! Also, I always have healthy snacks like nuts to eat.

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Usually around the 4 am stretch is when I'm so so SO sleepy, that's when I break out the coffee. I know not all places have access to a coffee maker but for those that do, definitely partake. I try not to drink coffee early in the shift b/c you start to crash later and it makes it harder to get through last rounds. Drink the coffee right before you start to feel sleepy and it may give you just the boost you need until you clock out. I also used to take a can of Red Bull and I'd crack it around 3 am and sip on it (meaning one to two sips every 45 minutes, by the time I made it to clock out I would still have about half a can (if that helps) I try not to drink Red Bull regularly but it helps in extreme cases .

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oh WOW, this week was rough. i ended up sitting for 2 out of 3 days. in one room, the lady insisted the room be pitch black, which you can imagine made it so hard to stay awake! luckily, my guy last night was frisky so i didnt have time to get sleepy! :roflmao: that aside, thanks for the ideas, everyone! i think ill get used to it..its just really different from my usual 3-11 shift.

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