Starting night shift...

[samarooni]

Well, the time has come to change from day orientation to night orientation for two weeks, then I'm on my own. Argh. I'm really not excited to be tired all the time..not trying to be pessimistic but it seems like everyone on nights is tired! I'm nervous that I'm going to turn into a vampire or something....anyone have any tips?

[guest64485]

A thread was just started on this not too long ago

https://allnurses.com/forums/f224/working-overnight-shifts-219609.html

good luck with nights!

[maolin]

... it seems like everyone on nights is tired!

I'm a nightshifter and I love it. It's funny that you said the noc crew look tired - I often think to myself that the day crew always look worn out - both coming and going.

I love night shift. I tend to get overstimulated and very cranky when I was on days - I'm not a morning person, and there is too much coming and going on days. The lights are all on, light through the windows, the entire healthcare population is buzzing around - family, meals, phones. Too much for me!

Still being a new nurse, being on the night shift gives me a better opportunity to learn. I can take a little bit more time for tasks & skills so I can make sure I'm doing it correctly - and I don't feel rushed. I like reading charts & analyse labs & trends. Because a lot of the services aren't 24h, there are more tasks I have to do because that department went home already - which broadens my skillset. I feel like I get to absorb so much more than when I was on days. And for whatever reason - it seems a 12h noc goes by faster than even the craziest 12h day shift.

I like that we turn off all the flourescent lighting and have softer, warmer track & task lighting. Such a calming effect (yet, I don't get sleepy at all). Have you ever seen Joe vs. The Volcano (Tom Hanks)? I love that scene w/ the lights. They really do suck the life force out of you.

I didn't have much difficulty changing my body's rhthym either. I've always been a night owl, so I don't poop out on my shift. If I'm working the next day, I have to work at getting to bed early enough to get enough sleep. While I had to hit the snooze button from 0500-0545 when I was on days, I naturally wake around 1600, well rested & with time to dine with family, shower, do makeup (that was sacrificed on days), and be ready to work.

:monkeydance:

[NJNursing, ASN, RN]

I agree with the above poster. I made the shift from nights to days and I like it but I hate it. I like it because like the above, I'm soooo not a morning person and I had a heck of a hard time getting up by 5:15 so I could be out the door by 6:15 and up and running by 7am to a day of craziness. Working nights, I can stay up late on my days off and sleep in every day. My body likes it better.

The downside is that it sometimes feels like you're working 2 days and really you are. An example is that I worked last night, I sleep all day and I'm working tonight. Now i'm off tomorrow but I'll spend the gorgeous day sleeping it away! By the time I wake up (around 5 or 6-ish) it's too late to get things done or spend the day out or something and I only get a few hours to spend with my daughter before she goes to bed at 8:30.

And on the days where I'm off but I'm working that night, they're limited because i'm pre-sleeping before a shift. I feel like I've got less of a personal life working nights, but it beats always feeling exhausted and stressed out working days.