nurseling

I'll find out. That might be a good option. As long as I don't do nights is what's important.

I first began doing 8 hour shifts (rotating days and evenings). I found it difficult to be at work so much, but mind you I was a new grad and everything was a challenge for me. Eventually I switched over to 12 hour shifts (days and nights) and while I had more days off, the quality of my days off was ruined due to this constant state of fatigue from rotating days to nights, nights to days. My body never had time to adjust. I began to feel really depressed and unwell. Now I am considering going back to 8 hour shifts days and evenings. I figure, for me the benefits will outweigh the cons. For one thing, my day will be broken up. I wont spend so much tim inside the hospital or at the patient's bedside. I will still have time to eat healthy meals at home, sleep in the comfort of my bed and get at least 8 hours regardless of what shift I work, I will be able to exercise more and maybe actually have more of a life.. I'm wondering if anyone here has returned to 8 hour shifts after 12's. Did you find it was an improvement in any way?

Wow! I admire you a lot. You must have a ton of energy! I'm heading out to the gym and a yoga class soon. I was just thinking how I want to get more yoga in as well. :)

Nice to know I'm not alone needing time to be alone.

Yeah I lean towards introversion. Oh well I guess this is just where I'm at in life right now. Maybe I will find another type of line of work at some point or work part time...

I've tried doing 2 weeks of one then the other. I find I can't handle too many nights. I feel pretty useless on my days off. I might try it in the winter when there's less sunlight anyway

Does anyone have any suggestions on how to best handle rotating shifts. I work 12 hour shifts on a busy med-surg unit, but I rotate between days and nights. I will generally be 1 week on days, 1 week on nights, then switch back with about 2 or 3 days in between. I find that I feel kinda jet lagged all the time and it's pretty much become a 'normal' state of being for me. Is there any way to make it easier to adjust to this? I've been thinking of maybe working permanent nights, since days are not available, but then I worry I will never see the light of day..

Hi, I'm a relatively new nurse on a busy neurology unit. I work 12 hour rotating shifts (day/nights). This is all that was available at the time so I'm just trying adapt as best as I can. Thing is, I find that on my days off, I increasingly need more and more alone time. I often neglect to see my friends and family, let alone make time for new connections. Part of it is that I'm tired and just need that time to recuperate, but there's a part of me that feels like I'm missing out on life.. Does anyone else feel this way? Do you need to spend a lot of time alone on your days when you're not working?

What thread is this? Can u send me the link?.I'm sure lots of nurses do all kinds of "extracurricular" activities on their time off that's none of anyone's business.. I don't know about how moral or immoral it is. I don't judge any of it...

Thanks so much. What a refreshing perspective, especially that its about your attitude. I work rotating days and nights. Some people tell me it will ruin my life and I say, only a bad attituse about it will ruin my life. Days and nights are great because I get to enjoy the busy hustle of days while getting in some downtime, not to mention premiums working nights. :)

I wish I could work only days but that's not possible at the hospital I work at now. So I accept it and manage as best I can.

I'm wondering if other nurses exercise on their days off. I started going to the gym at least 2 x week and feel it has made a tremendous difference in my overall mood and energy levels. I think it might be the endorphins but I was feeling a bit depressed between shifts at a time and exercise and healthy eating has literally reversed that. Anyone else have any experiences with how exercise has helped or not so much in improving the quality of your life and inadvertently the quality of your work?

I'm curious as to what other RN's do on their days off between shifts.. I work 12 hour rotations and just finished my nights. For the first day or even 2, I basically spend the day vegging..watching movies, reading, napping and being antisocial. Day 2 or 3 I might make time for family and friends, workout at the gym and do some cleaning. Does anyone else have a hard time coming to their senses after a few shifts in a row?

After my night shifts, I usually spend the day in bed. I sleep till about 2pm, but lounge around lazily during the day. I watch movies, read books and eat. And I make no qualms about it! At night, I go to bed around 10pm. I have no trouble switching to sleeping at night after night shifts, because I am naturally a day person. The next day, after I've slept through the night, I'm still a bit groggy, but I kinda push myself to get out of the house for a bit and take a nap during the day. By evening, I often have enough energy to be social and see friends. The third day off, I am on day schedule. I work out at the gym, get my laundry and chores done, so its all good. Keeping a positive mental attitude about it all really helps.

I go to the gym about twice a week. After a 12 hour shift, all I want to do is lay in a horizontal position. But exercise a couple of times a week really helps keep stress levels low.

I take a bath, meditate and try to get some sleep. On my days off, I take the time to exercise which really takes the edge off for me. Also, I find that working through the thoughts about my work is really what clears up the stress. Any job can be stressful. I've seen people burn out from working behind a desk, stamping invoices and making photocopies all day. So it really is about state of mind.

Meditation and exercise help as well...

Your anxiety has nothing to do with nursing school per say. It has to do with your thoughts ABOUT nursing school. Any job can be stressful and people burn out even working behind a desk...Changing your thoughts, changes your emotions, changes your experience.

For a while, I wondered the same thing...I'm a relatively new nurse and only recently got my RN license. The first couple of months was a HUGE adjustment period in terms of lifestyle. There was sooo much new information being thrown at me and the pace of the work really took getting used to. Needless to say I was stressed and craving sugar! But I quickly grabbed a hold of that, because I know nurses have a tendency to gain weight and I wasn't going down that road. I decided that what i needed was to manage stress better...That's really the key. Stress makes nurses overeat. It makes them sleep more and not feel like exercising. Something I'm beginning to realize is that part of that stress is not even the job in and of itself. It's our state of mind. Any job can be stressful. What matters is how you choose to look at it. When I started to change my frame of mind about the work I was doing, feeding less into the complaining, I found my outlook improving and stress levels decreasing. As the stress started lifting mentally, I started feeling more motivated to go to the gym and exercise. It has made a world of a difference for me. Not only am I more relaxed at work and in my free time, I have more energy, I look and feel great. Also, I've taken up meditation and self-hypnosis which has really changed my outlook powerfully. I share this with other nurses, but a lot of them are stuck in their ways of venting, complaining and emotional overeating. I'm committed to taking a different path, but it's all good. To each their own. I'm just focused on taking care of ME, because only then am i really of value to caring for others...

I was never "terrified" per say. I was a bit nervous to start work as a nurse, but I knew I'd have preceptors and be in good hands. It was when I was done orientation that got me a bit scared, but then I realized that I will never technically be alone. There is always support from staff around you, round the clock. It is really working as a team. I enjoy the pace of floor nursing. I like interacting with a wide variety of patients and families. You get to learn about people from all walks of life. What took getting used to was the logistics of the work. There is a lot of paper work and procedures to learn, but once you get the hang of the routine, things flow. You just have to be open to the unexpected, because it happens everyday. If you see it as a challenge, rather than a stressor, things will work out well for you.