Soon-to-be RN, need to work nights (DSPS), best specialties?

[thepilgrim1923]

Hello all,

I will have my BSN at the end of 2017 and am trying to decide upon a specialty. I know that this is a challenge for many, but I have a somewhat unusual wrinkle because I have a circadian rhythm disorder called Delayed Sleep Phase Syndrome (DSPS). People with the condition can have somewhat varied schedules, but in my case, DSPS means sleeping from sun-up to mid-afternoon and feeling more-or-less constantly jet-lagged when trying to exist on a 9-to-5 type schedule. Unless better treatment(s) comes along, this is likely to be a lifelong struggle for me.

So I am here to ask: does anyone have any suggestions about the best specialities for night work? I suppose by best I mean most challenging and involved, those in which I won't just be babysitting sleeping patients and annoying on-call doctors?

I know that my hopes may be too high, but any feedback would be welcome.

Thanks.

p.s. Any suggestions--including travel, unusual fields, and out-of-the-way places--are welcome. I am in Southern California but eager to leave.

[Here.I.Stand, BSN, RN]

Um...any inpatient unit? No babysitting sleeping patients involved. :) If they're sick enough to be hospitalized, they are sick enough to need nursing assessments and care through the night. Plus on lower acuity floors, the night RN is often assigned more pts than the day RN, which makes up for any pts who DO get to sleep for 4 hrs at a time.

Unfortunately there will be on-call MDs involved. Even in the ICU where we have a resident on site at all times, they sleep in the call room when they can. A pt could start declining 5 minutes after the resident falls asleep for the first time in 20 hours.

[meanmaryjean, DNP, RN]

Hahahahahahahaha! The idea that hospitalized patients sleep at night! Sick patients remain sick even after the day shift leaves. Choose a specialty based on your interests.

[Purple_roses]

I really think that as a new grad especially, any and all specialties will require a lot of brain power, regardless of the shift. There is much to learn! The good news is that you probably won't ever have a problem finding night shift positions.