Transitioning to night shift

[Studentpn1]

Hi there!

I am seeking your wisdom in transitioning for the first time to a night shift! I will be completing a evening shift of 1500 - 2315h on friday and will be going in Monday for 2300 to 0715h. Can you please advise me on what I can do to prepare my sleep schedule for this transition!

[llg, PhD, RN]

That should be a fairly easy transition. It "doubling back" from night shift to day shift that is usually the more difficult transition.

Option #1: Just stay up a little later each day and sleep later each morning. In other words, get to bed late on Friday night and sleep in the next morning. Stay up a little later on Saturday and sleep in until noon on Sunday. Stay up even later Sunday night and sleep in later on Monday.

Option #2: Stay up only a little later on the weekend and sleep in only a little later each morning. Then take a nap during the day on Monday. If you are a "night owl" by nature, that may be enough (perhaps with a little caffeine at midnight) to stay awake all Monday night. But if you are not a night owl by nature, you would probably be best off going with option #1 and easing into it.