The Nightshift Funk

ZASHAGALKA, RN · Sep 28, 2005

I can't sleep when I work days. I wake up at 130a, 140a, 210a, 215a, 345a, 350a, 400a, 410a, etc etc - always thinking I overslept and am late.

I just can't sleep nights. I could probably count on 1 hand the times I've been asleep at 2am in the past year.

I'm always a little suspicious of people who actually go out during the middle of the day! Don't they know it's hot outside? Don't they know the world at 3pm is crowded w/ other ill-guided souls?

I'm sorry, if you've never shopped wal-mart at 3am, then you don't know how easy the world actually can be.

~faith,

Timothy.

nursejohio, ASN, RN · Sep 28, 2005

I worked nights in a nursing home over the summer while I was finishing up my degree. I know it's not the same as a hospital, but night shift is night shift. No therapy, no docs, no families...what wasn't there to like? For the first couple weeks I gave into my husbands pouting about me staying up till 4 or 5am on my nights off and tried to switch back and forth. I decided to maintain my sanity and stay on a shift I loved so I quit trying to swap my sleep depending on the days I worked. Took a couple days to convert, but once I got the hang of it, it was great. I'd nap with hubby for a bit when he went to bed around 10pm, then get up and clean house, catch up on reading, whatever to keep me up till 5 or 6. I'd go back to bed and snuggle again when his alarm went off, and after he left for work I'd sleep till around 4pm. It kept him happy and my schedule on track. Hope this helps

psalm, RN · Sep 29, 2005

...do you absolutely have to work a 40 hour weeK, can you go to 32 hour week aand still keep your benefits? Or does your spouse have good bennies? I can't do the 40 hour week and I used to do the 3 12hour a week but it caused migraines. So I work part time nights. Sometimes I pick up a 7p-11p or an 11p-3a, or even an 8 hour shift, dpending on how I feel. God bless.

helpinghands, BSN, RN · Sep 29, 2005

It's my fifth week into nights and it is definately rough! It seems like all I do is sleep, eat(sometimes) and go to work. I have also found myself sleeping excessively and have slept 12 hours on a few occasions and once slept 16! However, I find it difficult to fall asleep when I get home in the morning and usually only get 4-6 hours if I have to work the next night. To really mess with my sleep cycle I had to go to class early in the morning 2 times a week. Thankfully it's down to 1 now.

I do love working nights though. I like the night staff so much better, the CN's are so sweet and supportive and everybody seems much more relaxed. It also seems the the night staff is much more accepting and less critical of new staff, especially new grads (I'm in ICU). I few of the more experienced nurses always go out of their way to see if I'm doing OK. I'm usually drowning and feeling quite overwhelmed, so it's always nice to have an extra pair of hands in speeding a bath along or repositioning a patient. They're good "go to" people for quick questions also! This is what makes nights so worth it for me! I did part of my preceptorship on days and it did not have that atmosphere at all. If you were struggling the attitude was better get used to it, and it's only going to get worse, just wait till you're on your own. It is REALLY hard, but if you have a staff with the right attitude you're really never "on your own".

Opps, this got way longer than intended. Made me feel much better about my job after a HORRIBLE night at work though!!

Alice Perri · Sep 29, 2005

I have been out of school almost a year, however, I am recently new to nightshift as my husband and I have moved and that's what was open on the unit I wanted. I have now worked three nightshifts. I know that's not much, but I have had no problems sleeping when I get off and at night when I am off work also.
My problem is I feel as though I'm in a fog, just a weird feeling all the time. It's as though my motivation and concentration are decreased. Instead of a lack of sleep, I could easily get an excess of sleep. For example, I did not work last night, so I had sleep from about 8-2:30 when I came home yesterday morning, then went to bed with my husband last night at 10:30 and just got up at 10 am this morning. That's 12 1/2 hours. I've always been an easy sleeper who loves to sleep late, I'm concerned that's a bit excessive.
How long does it take to adjust to the nightshift, does this funk I am feel I'm in ease up with time? I am enjoying the pace on nights, plus I have time to get some homework done, I'm taking 7 graduate course hours toward my NP. I don't have kids but this shift would also work well for us whenever we do. I just hate feeling so out of it all the time....any suggestions?

Some people are not meant to do night shift. You can figure this out by seeing that it is hard to stay awake throughtout the shift and frequent sickness. This is usually seen in the first few months. Its not worth it to go through this b/c after time the staff will see this and the chatting goes around that you cant cut it on nights.

sjb2005 · Sep 29, 2005

I agree with the previous post - it's probably how you are 'hard-wired'.
I'm a night person, always have been. Throughout H.S., I stayed up till 3am or so, and slept through the first half of school. Then I went into the NAVY (stands for Never Again Volunteer Yourself) and found out that everybody that thinks they are somebody goes home at 430p and the best time to work is sometime after that.
I've been as an RN for 13 yrs and have worked all but 2.5 of those on nights. More pay, Few docs, no meals, no routine procedures, no sched surgeries, no administration, fewer orders to take off. What's not to like?
You will get used to it. I'm not sure if I could work nights if all I could do is 'get used to it'. I thrive on it. Very rarely do I "shift" back to being a day person when I'm off work. During school days for my kids, I sleep when they are at school, so I'm up from the time they get out of school till I take them back. When school is out, the boys tend to live a modified schedule that more aligns to mine - they stay awake until 1-2am and sleep in till 11am (but that's a teenage boy think, I think).
And you are right in that working nights makes managing kids better. My ex and I have a perfect setup where there is always a parent available 24/7 for the kids. But, to the extent it makes parenting better because you can both work f/t without daycare and there is always a parent available, it stresses relationships because it means you are, more often than not, working opposite each other and therefore, not spending much time together (hence the 'ex' part of the above comment).
It'll get better. Some people find that working out after work helps. And that also helps with the weight gain. Eating at night is not good for you as your body is naturally not metabolizing as much during that time. And eating is a good way to stay awake - so night shift probably does eat much more than day shift.
I love nights. NO WAY WOULD I WORK DAYS AS A NURSE if I could avoid it. Every time I think of my day shift peers, I wonder "What were they thinking?!"
~faith,
Timothy.

I am in a fog if I worked day shift. I am definitely a noc person. My brain does not function correctly on days. My stomach churns with hunger by 8am even if I ate breakfast. As long as I stay on a routine, my body functions the way I need it too on nights. I do alot more munching on the night shift than I did on other shifts though. More salty type snacks. I always had a sweet tooth on 3-11's and on days....the more food, the merrier.

HillNPStudent · Sep 29, 2005

Well this is my second week into nightshift, and I am really starting to adjust I think. I don't feel so out of it now. I haven't had any trouble coming home and sleeping, and have even been flipping back to a regular schedule with my husband on my nights off without much trouble. Last night was my first night that I didn't find myself yawning and struggling to stay awake at 2:00 am. I feel that I have much more time to make sure I get everydone done that needs doing on my shift, and that I don't have to feel so rushed with my patients. Nights can be hard for a lot of patients, and I like being there to help get them through the night. I have been trying not to overeat, though, as on my floor there's a lot of eating, they do birthday parties for all the nightshift crew. So I try to keep to as normal an eating schedule as possible. I eat dinner around 10-11 pm, which I would do at home too, then have a light snack around 2-3 am to get me through the rest of the shift. This morning I had breakfast around 6 am so I could just go home and go to bed, I had a few other errands to run first. I really enjoy being home every day though, I like being available during business hours to get things done if need be, and I think once we have kids, nights would work well. I am in grad school working on my NP, but might would consider working some nights as a floor nurse to avoid daycare. It has a world of possibilities and I feel much more optimistic about the whole nightshift thing....