Sleep

eandgsma · Nov 13, 2007

Glad you brought this up. I just started my preceptorship for school and its my first time doing nights. I asked for it because of the kids and because the job I was hired for after school ends is a nights position. My first night I made it through but about 5am I was crashing. Anyway, any tips on how to take a nap before the first shift of the week? I'm working 7p-7a tonight so its the first night of the week. I tried to nap but I had the rapid HR and couldn't sleep. Any tips???

Thanks!

N

TrudyRN · Nov 13, 2007

Well, the first night is hard because you probably slept last night and just aren't tired.

I usually try to just relax in front of the tube or read in bed, sometimes myself to turn the light off and just lie there, even if I can't sleep. Not sure it works so well but I usually can sleep a while, even if only an hour.

Try to take your break at work all at once, that is, if you get a meal break and some rest breaks, that can add up to as much as an hour. Use it to nap if possible. But make sure you return on time and make sure they know where you are and that you are going to try to just close your eyes. Trouble avoidance, you know.

ERRNTraveler, RN · Nov 13, 2007

I am in school during the day, and work night shift. Like ebear, Benedryl makes me hyper and keeps me from falling asleep.
Tylenol PM or Advil PM are my lifesavers when I need to sleep on demand.

Tylenol PM is just Tylenol with Benadryl.....

hikernurse · Nov 13, 2007

I sleep whenever I can--even on my days off. Benadryl helps a lot; I found when I switched to nocs that the night after my 3rd in a row I was too tired to sleep--ironic. It got better with time, but I always keep Benadryl on hand just in case.

I get very nauseated when I'm tired. Occasionally I sit and rock during my shift (work in NICU) and try not to throw up, but if I eat a big dinner before work it helps. Some people get sleepier with big meals, but it works for me. I also tend to get diarrhea occasionally. I get tachy, too, but my BP tends to be low, generally, and I tend to run a little high HR-wise, as it is. I also skip beats once in a while, but I wonder if that is more an effect of the caffeine I drink to stay awake all night.

As far as napping pre-shift, I go to bed late the night before and wake up early the morning of and that makes me tired enough for a good nap--sometimes I can get four hours in. I love that :).

MisMatch, LPN · Nov 14, 2007

Tylenol PM is just Tylenol with Benadryl.....

Maybe it's the combination that works, not sure. That, and it's been years since I took Benedryl (and never used it to aid in falling asleep).

Elvish, BSN, DNP, RN, NP · Nov 14, 2007

See, I can take Benadryl 25-50 and be sleepy. But if I take Tylenol along with it, boy, you better watch out. I'll be climbing the walls. I'm that paradoxical insomnia, or whatever they call it.

dmarie (GA) · Nov 14, 2007

Combination of Melatonin, Valerian Root, and a Magnesium supplemental herbal tea works great for me, and I've always suffered from insomnia. Sometimes, just to be on the safe side and to insure a full nights sleep without waking up, I'll also take a Unisom.

Tylenol PM never worked for me. Plus, why take Tylenol if you don't need it?

grandee3 · Nov 14, 2007

I get really cold, my body temp goes down. If I am awake for longer then 24 hrs, I become totally rejuvinated. Try not to let this happen often. When Katrina was coming I got off that Sun morning and had to go home and get my house in order and pack for evacuation. By the time we got to our destination (normally a 3 hr drive) in the wee hours of Monday morning I took a shower and went to sleep. I was awake 4 hrs later. It was really strange. I guess stress had a lot to do with it.

Never did get back home, still waiting.

Diary/Dairy, RN · Nov 14, 2007

I have been using unisom on the days that I have to sleep between work at night for a few months now - it helps me fall back to sleep because I wake up easily.

nrsang97, BSN, RN · Nov 14, 2007

I am in school during the day, and work night shift. Like ebear, Benedryl makes me hyper and keeps me from falling asleep.
Tylenol PM or Advil PM are my lifesavers when I need to sleep on demand.

Benedryl is the active ingredent in both to help sleep. I had taken these before and they work well, but I feel so hung over the next day. I have taked ambien before and that also makes me feel hung over.

Indy, LPN, LVN · Nov 14, 2007

My blood sugar drops more easily if I don't sleep well before work. Normally I'm up at 1630 and have eaten by 1715-ish, and don't get hungry until after 2100 at work. If I'm up too early I tend to eat too early, then get busy in the beginning of the shift and am ready to commit homicide by 2100....... low blood sugar makes me really mean.

So for me it's a matter of routine. It's difficult to keep the exact same hours on my days off because I want to be available for my family, but if I don't get some sleep in the daytime then I'm just a bear to be around. Not the cuddly kind, either. Lately that unwillingness to stick with my routine has given me fits of insomnia that have been hard to break.

One thing that has helped: I schedule my meds differently. Like, my singulair and aspirin I'll take around 0800 because it's close to my bedtime, and it doesn't hurt to have 'em with some hot chocolate. If I had a bad night and feel achy, I may throw in a motrin. The vitamins I'll have with breakfast or around 1700, so the energy boost from the B-complex doesn't hit me when I'm trying to sleep.

TrudyRN · Nov 14, 2007

Wow, we really have a lot of different approaches to this, don't we? Sorry about the Katrina nurse who hasn't gotten back home yet. That must be really painful. I hope you are adjusting okay.

I forgot to say - 50 mg. of Trazadone knocks me on my butt and I'm out for a good

7 - 8 hours.