Question for night-shifters

Trauma Columnist · Sep 4, 2008

I worked nights for 15 years (from age 31 to 47). Here is what worked for me:

1. I always scheduled my 3 12s in a row, no matter what!

2. On the first day I slept in the afternoon for 2-3 hours.

3. Go to work first night and then come home. Go right to bed!

4. Sleep for 7-8 hours (if at all possible). I did not keep a home phone in the bedroom, just an emergency only cell phone, turned the door bell off also. I also \ kept the overhead fan on all day as background noise, darkened the room with blinds and I kept the room cool.

5. When I would get up (usually around 3-4pm), I would fix dinner for the family, do the laundry, etc., help kids with homework.

6. After my last night, I would sleep 4-5 hours when I got off work and then got up and "hung" until about 9pm when I would reset myself to sleeping nights.

Good luck...as to the routine in the NICU, can't help there as I worked ER.

ilstu99 · Sep 4, 2008

Hi everyone!
How is everyone doing? I have a couple of questions.
1. How did you get yourself started to work 7p-7a? How do you do it from week to week? Do you sleep some nights and then just get back into working nights and sleeping during the day? I am looking for any words of advice.
2. For those of you who work nightshift, what does your normal night look like? From what I understand one of the major things we do is bathe the little ones and change the bedsheets. (eek... I am so nervous about handling those teeny tiny bodies!)
Thanks!

I also schedule mine 3 in a row. I stay up later the night before (3-4 AM), and sleep as late as possible the day of. Then I'm up by 1-2 PM, and I make my dinner, dinner for the family, and pack what I'll need for the next few days.

My nights looks quite a bit like days. :) Q6 assessments, Q3 feeds or whatever protocol the baby is following, comfort care, etc. Our unit differs from days in that nights do the daily lab draws, measurements, and many of the other things that make the babies unhappy. It's easier on everyone when their parents are sleeping. We bathe and change linens as needed, and usually around when their parents can be involved in hands-on care - if possible. Otherwise, it falls to "whenever you have the time." The one thing we do much less of is teaching. I do miss that.

babiesRmylife · Sep 4, 2008

In our unit new people start out working night shift so I didn't have a choice but to work 7p-7a. I do sleep during the day but I've never slept well day or night. I usually go home & go to bed & sleep maybe 4-5hours. On my days off I don't tend to stay up late though. You just learn what your body needs & then do it or try to find a way to do it.

Night shift weighs each baby, changes the linen, & then regular vital signs & feedings. Sometimes we also have to get infants ready for surgery in the morning as well. It's nothing different besides the weighing part than what day shift would do.

WildcatFanRN, BSN, RN · Sep 5, 2008

I've worked night shift mainly for the past several years. I'm a night owl anyway so didn't do much adjusting. I be up during the day on my days off, and on the days I worked, I'd go home and go to bed and sleep until 5ish. Now I'll be working 2nd shift and have no clue how I'll adjust to being awake in the afternoon And this is my first NICU job, so I'll let you know how it goes.

thebirdgirl · Sep 6, 2008

I rotate between days and nights, and I've found that everyone is really different. I just can't work 3 nights in a row, I prefer to do my 3 shifts a week as day, day, night, or day, night, night. Sometimes I do every other night. I need lots of sleep and it throws me off too much if I would have to come back for a third night. I'd rather have a night off to catch up on sleep. When I work nights, I wake up at my regular time (around 7am- I'm definitely a day person!), then take a 15-45 minute nap in the afternoon whenever I feel sleepy, whether it's noon or 4pm. I learned that forcing myself to stay in bed just makes me feel more tired. When I come home the next morning, I jump right into bed with my fan for white noise, face mask, ear plugs, and phone off. If I have to work again I sleep all day until 4 or 5pm. I ask my hubby to wake me up if I'm not up by 5:30 because I don't hear the alarm (luckily I have two noisy dogs that alert me to anything going on). I wake up a few times during the day, and I used to get up at noon when I'd wake up. Then someone said to me, you wouldn't get up at 1am if you woke up to use the bathroom! I realized that was true, and just tell myself it's the middle of the night. When I don't have to go back to work, I sleep anywhere from 5-7 hours, hang around the house, then go back to bed at 9 or 10pm. I usually wake up early the next morning though! This is what works best for me but it took me months to figure it out! Good Luck!!!

jenn_rn_nj · Sep 7, 2008

i have a blend of 3 in a row or a single day and 2 in a row...i tend to sleep in even on my off days, staying up until 3-4am and sleeping until 11ish...the morning of an "on" day, i stay up until 0600 or 0630 then sleep until mid-afternoon...i have about an hour commute and i find if i don't get that long stretch of undisturbed sleep then i'm falling asleep at the wheel the next morning

every now and then my body just doesn't want to sleep in the afternoon...i keep a book on my nightstand and read when this happens which usually helps me to fall back to sleep...if it's not a workday then sometimes i'll just get up and maybe take a small evening nap if i find that i'm super exhausted...i try not to over think and just sleep when i'm tired and stay awake when i'm not hehe

goodluck! =)

RN4Little1s · Sep 13, 2008

When I get home from my night shift, I like to give myself a "bedtime routine." (Like we do for the older babies, ha!) More often than not, I take a bubble bath with this cooling eye mask from Bath and Body Works and drnik a glass of water. I do the brush teeth/contacts out routine and then snuggle up with my 10 lb. dog. It's amazing to me that he can sleep ALL night with my DH and then ALL day with me! I am able to sleep 6-8 hours.

The hardest part for me is getting back to days. After 3 nights in a row, my body wants to SLEEEEEP; it most defnitely does not want to wake up at 2pm...

Night Shift: Quietness, time to bond with babies, no/few road trips, weights, lab draws, linens. Also, I find that when you get that really sick admission or your kid crumps, you have your MD at the bedside all night. You get a lot more attention. We aren't a birth center - so we get fewer admissions, but they are the sick ones because the others can wait until morning.

Ruby Vee, BSN · Sep 13, 2008

there are multiple threads on night shift: how to tolerate it, how to fit in a social life/family life/hobby/second job. many excellent tips if you just do a search.

BoonersmomRN · Sep 14, 2008

I have been at it for 9 months and I still can't figure out my schedule.

3 in a row? Works well..I keep the same assignment ( usually) but I am DEAD when I am done....takes me 2 days to get back to norm.

But then when I do 2 on 1 off 1 on, or 1 on, 2 off, 2 on...I always feel like I am ALWAYS at work

What works for me so far is just mixing it up....

But I am ALWAYS tired

ALWAYS tired

It STINKS because the fiance and I have been TTC

And my cycle since I started nights has gone from the norm 28 days to 36, 35, 24, 39,28,25

UGH@!!!! It's all OVER the place....."sigh"