preparing for night shift

[Minkuscat1]

Hey everyone, I am switching to night shift soon and would like everyone's opinion on how everyone handles the big switch! I feel like my options are..

For the first few nights prior to my first night shift:

1) stay up as late as possible, and try to get myself to stay up late and sleep in as much as I can

Or

2) stay up as late as I can, wake up early and then take a nap during the day.

My only issue is I go to bed pretty early so as much as I try I think I will only be able to stay up until like 2 😁, so I think option 2 is really my only option.

Does anyone else do this?

Also does anyone on night shift switch their sleeping schedule on their days off?

Thanks everyone ☺️

[AnthonyD]

I think option 2 will work.

I work straight nights, and yes I switch to a normal sleep schedule when I'm off. I work either 11pm-7am or 7pm-7am, and basically when I'm getting ready for my first night on, I try to get up early and do stuff in the morning, to sleep from around noon - 5pm. Between shifts on my work nights, I usually try to sleep about 10am-5pm.

[mindofmidwifery, ADN]

I try to stay up as late as possible and if I can only stay up until around 3 or 4 then sleep regularly, I take a short nap before work.

On my off days I switch back to normal sleep schedule just have to caffeinate myself appropriately.

[turnforthenurse, MSN, NP]

I stay up as late as possible and then sleep during the day. I would also take some Benadryl to help me sleep that first day when switching back to nights. When switching back to days I would go home and sleep for about 4 hours and then drink caffeine to try to stay awake during the day. I would usually go to bed a little earlier (9-10pm).