GLDLPN

:(Hello all Haven't visited here in a while, but find myself returning ~ it is a good place to get ideas/helpful hints from others who know what you are going through. I have worked nights most all my years of nursing (30+), except a couple years of 3p-11p, and a few months 7a-7p when I got bumped out of my night position. (20 years 11p-7a and then 10 years 7p-7a). I prefer nights ~ it feels too stressful to me in the day time. But now, I am struggling with sleep difficulties ~ the night time sleep is pretty good, but the day time sleep, maybe a couple hours and I just can not go back to sleep. Went to the dr for help ~ she prescribed Provigil. For the life of me I can not understand how a medicine that is supposed to keep people awake will help me sleep, but she tells me to give it a try, that several nurses take it and it has helped them. I am on my second day of it (maybe it takes time for it to begin helping???) and so far, I am getting even less sleep. GRrrrr frustrating. Part of me wants to find a different job ~ something less stressful. As I have gotten older, things seem so much more stressful to me. Also nursing has changed so much from when I first began. I currently work at a hospital based skilled nursing unit. It is supposed to be a unit that is slower paced, but they send us patients who are often too sick to be there and we don't have them very long and they end up going back to an acute floor. There is a nursing home real close to my home, and I toy with the idea of looking into a job there ~ thinking it might be less stressful, and that maybe I could do the day shift there and cope ok. It sure would feel better to be able to feel rested, but I always end up deciding to stay put where I am. I want to sleep and feel better, but I have reservations about the nursing home ~ where I am now, patients come and go, but at a nursing home, if you get some patients that are difficult and you really don't enjoy having to take care of them or they have difficult families ~ you are stuck with them for who knows how long. Also, I am having a hard time ~ the thought of giving up my extra days off that I get by working the 12 hour shifts (don't think they have them at that nursing home). Having to go to work just 3 days a week is so much more appealing than having to go there 5 days a week. Things seem to kind of come to a head when this sleep problem gets to me. Then I try to keep hanging in there (don't especially like change) ~ I like my coworkers. What to do.....What to do??????? Thanks for listening. Maybe someone will have some helpful suggestions. Take care all Gayle

After several months of sleeping difficulties (sleeping at night on my nights off), I went to a sleep dr. She has me trying the melatonin again, and another med ~ I just wanted to share ~ thinking maybe it would help someone else struggling with sleep difficulties. I had tried melatonin before, but it didn't seem to help. I took it as directed on the label. The dr told me to take it about 5 hours before bedtime. Then she told me to take Valerian Root about 1/2 hour before bedtime. So far, it seems to be helping. I don't sleep straight through the night, but sleep in longer amounts and wake up feeling good and like doing things. I am so excited to finally be sleeping better. Amazing what a little rest does to improve one's outlook on things. Gayle (7p-7a)

Hi, We have renal patients on our floor from time to time who have dialysis treatments. Some of them have a perm cath, some of them have a vas cath. Could you help me to know what the difference between the two is? Thank you for your help.

My mom wears them and swears by them ~ she said they had cost a little bit more, but were well worth the money ~ she said she can wear them all day long and her feet don't hurt. She said the style of her shoe is called Freetime ~ they are tie up shoes.

I find that at work, even during the night shift (I work 7pm-7am) there is something to be done all night long, and staying awake is not a problem. I am having some sleep difficulties right now ~ not sleeping well at night on my nights off, and that is kind of frustrating. I read about how working the night shift is stressful to the body, but I wonder is the stress of that any worse than the stress of dealing with some of these impossible family members who are more in abundance during the day time hours. I'd rather deal with the stress on the body of the night shift than dealing with some of these totally impossible, rude people.

I worked the night shift (11p-7a) when my kids were growing up ~ it worked out well for my family. I was able to attend their school things and didn't have to miss because of work. I missed some sleep, but survived it and was glad to have been able to do that. I worked that shift for almost 20 years. Now I work the 7p-7a shift ~ I like that shift too, but would not have liked that shift while the kids were growing up. For me ~ with the 12 hour shifts, there is no time for anything else ~ you sleep, eat, go to work and do it all over again ~ everything else has to wait till your days off. Good luck Robert

When my kids were growing up, I was fortunate enough to be able to work part time. I worked the 11p-7a shift. I was able to go to their school stuff , ball games etc ~ even if it was in the day time. Or if they were sick, I could be with them and not have to miss work. Sometimes I ran on not much sleep, but I was young then and it all worked out. The only thing working nights kind of messed up holidays a little bit, and the kids didn't always like that, but all in all ~ I was glad to be able to work that shift and be part time, and got to go to the majority of their stuff through the years. I guess for the most part I was happy with it, the kids might have a different opinion. Gayle

I try to turn it off when I am off duty. I wouldn't not help someone if I saw someone who needed help, but would be glad for someone else (EMS in that type situation) to come along and take over. Some of the previous posts made me smile ~ the skateboarder one brought back memories. My kids bring "em home to me. One of their friends fell skateboarding and wacked the back of her head on the side walk and cut it open. They brought her home for me to tend. When people know you are a nurse, you don't have to go looking for things to do when you are off duty, they come to you. The little neighbor man came knocking on my door ~ holding a towel to his head ~ he had fallen off a ladder and cut his head ~ wanted to know if I thought he needed stitches. I said I thought so (he was hoping I would say no), and offered to take him to the hospital if he needed. He said his wife would take him. He came knocking the next day, to show me they had stitched him up. Funny, people come to you and ask what they should do ~ sometimes they listen (like the little neighbor man) sometimes (the skateboarding girl) they do not. Gayle

BFLady, Moses Cone in Greensboro (http://www.mosescone.com) has a whole long list of RN openings on their web site. I work at Forsyth in Winston-Salem. I work the 12 hour shifts and do the drive from Greensboro 3 nights one week, 4 nights the other week. Some people drive from farther than I do. The web site there is http://www.novanthealth.org. Hope that helps. GLDLPN

Hello all, Thank you for your responses and helpful information. Do you have to take the melatonin for a period of time before it starts to help, or does it help right away. I took it last night ~ one 3mg tablet as per instructions on the bottle. I guess maybe I am not knowing what to expect. Should I be able to sleep straight through the night for several hours with out waking? I was kind of disappointed because I slept for a couple hours then woke up. I fell back to sleep for a couple more hours, then awake again, then another couple hours and awake again. Each time I wake, I am not just looking at the clock and drifting back off to sleep, I lay there for a while before being able to fall asleep. I guess I was expecting to fall asleep and not wake until morning. Any words of wisdom??? Thanks ~ Gayle

Do any of you have trouble sleeping at night on your nights off? I am able to sleep pretty good in the day time ~ in fact, right now on my first day off that is when I get my best sleep ~ from about 10am-6pm. So, I have been kind of catching up on that day. I am so frustrated though. I can't seem to get into any kind of a routine. I have just been kind of sleeping when ever I get sleepy, because I figure I have to sleep sometime. I have tried to make myself stay up in the daytime so I could sleep at night ~ then I don't get any sleep because I can't sleep at night. And it is like when I am awake at night, I try to do some stuff, but feel that I am not alert enough. It ends up when I am awake (day or night) I feel too tired to do anything. Awake and tired but can't sleep either. Meanwhile ~ stuff I need to do keeps piling up more and more. Help ~ any suggestions anyone ~ I am so frustrated. Thanks ~ Gayle

I have seen melatonin mentioned as something to take for help when you have trouble sleeping. Can anyone share more about this with me. How much do you take and when. How long before it starts to help you? Thank you for any information. Gayle (7pm-7am)

Hi Tweety, I wondered about your blood pressure too. I used to have headaches a lot ~ I would go to bed feeling fine, then wake up with one. Now I am on blood pressure meds, and I hardly ever have headaches anymore. There were probably other things that affected me as well. Anyway ~ keep a check on your B/P so you will be ok. Gayle

A few units at my hospital have started using it. My unit is supposed to start in a month or so. I too was wondering about having to roll the cart down the hall in the middle of the night for one dose of tylenol or something similar. Also, I have a lot of foot pain ~ right now, with the system we have, I can get my meds ready sitting down beside the cart, and then head out to give them and cut down somewhat on the time I have to stand. My feet hurt horrible when I have to stand ~ if I can keep moving it is not so bad. So, I am wondering how I will fare this change.

So, how do you know what information to believe and where is a reliable source of accurate information? Please help ~ it is so confusing. Gayle