The skinny on working nights

SmilingBluEyes · Sep 24, 2008

It varies so much. If you are a night owl, you will love it. If you are not, it will take a lot of adjustments on your part to learn to. I did it for 7 of my 11 years in OB. Never learned to love it but learned to live with it. Guard your sleep, take care of your health and leave the junk food and caffeine alone if you can. that is my best advice!

Good luck.

ChocoholicRN · Sep 24, 2008

I just switched from days to nights a few weeks ago and i'm far from being adjusted. The work load itself is lighter on nights, and suprisingly I have no problem sleeping during the day. The difficult part is days off. If you have 2 days off in a row, you sort of lose the first day because you end up sleeping since you just got off work that morning (does that make sense?). I do get to see my boyfriend (we live together) more than I expected, but it has hurt other "areas" of the relationship which is something that will just be worked out in time. Like other people will say, you either love it or hate it, and so far i'm not loving it. I also don't get to see my friends as much because when they have off during the weekends I'm usually sleeping.

Jo Dirt · Sep 24, 2008

I worked 11-7 for a month. I knew I was going to hate it but it was the only option at the time. I was tired all the time, no matter how much I slept. About 3 or 4 I was so tired and miserable I did not know how I would make it the rest of the shift. I would have to hang my head outside the window and sing on my way home to keep from falling asleep at the wheel. I would go work at Mcdonald's before I'd take a nightshift job again. You're like the walking dead all the time.

Trauma Columnist · Sep 24, 2008

3 12's isn't too bad, 5 8's would be horrendous and switching back and forth is just gruesome. I am not a nightowl by any stretch. However, I've done 15 years of nights.

CEG · Sep 24, 2008

I work nights and I am surprised to find I like it. I would never have described myself as a night person but rarely do I get tired at work. I work 3-12's so the first day off is a little tougher- I try to just sleep a few hours during the day so I am tired that night and can get back on a regular schedule. Nights is busier in some ways and slower in others but definitely requires more independence.

Barkow · Sep 25, 2008

I work 12-hour nights and at this point in my life it's awesome because I live by myself, but I'm honestly not sure how it would work out if I was married or had kids. I tend to lump my work days together so that I can have long stretches off and get back to a semi-normal schedule. The shift differential is nice, and usually the pace is a bit calmer without scheduled inductions and c-sections to deal with. On the other hand, when it's busy things get a little crazy because you might not have ancillary staff like aides and clerks to help out. You definitely have to be very autonomous in your practice and be able to spot trouble quickly because you don't always have in-house OBs or midwives.

AWanderingMinstral · Sep 25, 2008

I work steady nights and, for the most part, I really like it. I DO feel like a zombie the first day, but, with adequate rest, a good diet, and regular trips to the gym, it's okay. I ONLY work three shifts in a row and then I have four days off. If I had to work one night and then have two off and then work another two, it wouldn't work. The key is to get your rest and eat well. I'm willing, until I earn a graduate degree, to turn my body clock around for less chaos, more money, and, frankly, seeing my unit director A LOT less. : )

L&Doldtimer · Sep 25, 2008

Been working nocs for almost 30yrs. now-less chiefs running around, after 9 or so usually less visitors, more independence. Best nurses work nocs! :) But gotta be able to sleep during the day-will NEVER work if ya can't. Positive attitude-sometimes at first it freaks ya out thinkin about bein' up all noc, but it really isn't that hard to adjust for most. Trouble is, it's really a "daytime" world for everyone else-once ya get them trained when and when not to call, etc. you can deal with it! Good luck to ya!

elanddeenrs · Sep 25, 2008

OK, so riddle me this-- how do you nurse a baby while working nights?

Calzonan RN · Sep 25, 2008

I've worked nights for almost two years now. I have a love/hate relationship with the shift though. I really like not having all the bigwigs around and having the feeling of independence that I get from nights. I also like the fact that our shift works as a team, more so than days, because we have to (and want to). It's nice not having as many visitors around (but in L&D they really do come visit at all hours of the night) and just a different kind of pace. It's not really slower, we're always busy, but it's just different. I worked nights when I was in the Air Force and HATED it, and they were only 8 hour shifts. As I've gotten older I've figured out that the key to being a successful night person is to guard your sleep with your life!! Turn off the phones, get a 'noisy fan' to drown out street noises, and dedicate yourself to sleeping as soon as you get home as long as you can. I work about an hour from my house, and I have to wake up by 2:30 to go and get my kids, so on a good day I'll get about 6 hours of sleep, I can't afford to mess around and miss my sleep! Before my first shift I'll take a two hour nap and then go in, I've never had a problem with feeling tired at work, just on the looonnnngggg drive home. I try to work two nights then have a couple of days off then work one night. It's easy for me to adjust to one night, and two nights is easy too. Right now three in a row is difficult for me because I get so little sleep (I normally need 8-9 hours of sleep when I'm in dayshift mode). I've also figured out that on my second shift I need to treat it like a normal shift and sleep my 6 hours. I used to cut it short and sleep 3-4 hours and then get up thinking I wouldn't be able to sleep at night if I slept all day. Instead I'd be a zombie for two days just recovering. If I get my 6 hours of sleep after my second shift, I can still get a regular nights sleep in as well and then the next day I feel somewhat normal.

My biggest problem with nights is trying to diet. My whole body is out of whack because it never knows when it's supposed to be hungry, lol.

L&DRN03 · Sep 26, 2008

I was born to work nights! I think it's unnatural to wake up at 5am to get ready for work. Yes that 3-5am hour is pretty rough but I deal with it. As far as sleep goes I can sleep anytime! For me working nights is like having the parents away for the night. :lol2: The vibe is so much better. In my unit the night staff is younger, more energetic and more likely to offer a helping hand than our day staff. Of course I realize maybe 10-15yrs down the road nights won't be for me anymore but right now I wouldn't have it any other way.