Trouble sleeping night before clinical? Advice to remedy?

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I am still in my first semester and just starting clinicals recently.

I try to get a lot of sleep the night before to prepare for the 12 hours clinicals..... but when I do go to bed, I just couldn't sleep! Or I wake up super early and just feels my heart is just pounding from nervousness so even though I go to bed super early, so I usually feel more tired than normal at the start of my day.

So it's just because I'm so nervous and scared about clinicals. But do you guys have any advice on not just controlling that nervousness/anxiety the day before, but to just ..... stay asleep and not let nervousness wake you up? To truly rest the day before?

Thank you for your time! :)

1
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Specializes in CVICU.

I don't feel nervous the night before clinicals, but I do make sure to wake up at a decent hour the day before so I won't have trouble going to sleep early that night. I'm not sure if you exercise, but doing so definitely helps one fall asleep more easily. Make sure you aren't hungry before bed, make sure you don't need to pee, and make sure the room is a comfortable temperature.

I am a big 'planner'. I like to lay my clinical uniform out so I can quickly put it on upon waking. I like to figure out what I'm going to eat for breakfast that morning so I can quickly prepare the food. I start my car 15 minutes before leaving so it is nice and warm when I need to leave. I ensure that I leave so that I'll arrive at least 10 minutes earlier than we are supposed to be there, in case traffic is bad or something. (10 minutes is sufficient because I live in rural Oklahoma, haha, and by traffic being bad, I mean getting stuck behind a tractor or horse trailer). Doing all of these things helps me know that my morning will go as smoothly as foreseeable, and it makes sleeping easier.

If worse comes to worst, you can always try Benadryl or melatonin to help you sleep.

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Oh by your 3rd semester, you'll be crawling your way to your pillow. I was the same way, and this shall too pass (like a kidney stone).

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Being prepared will help with some of the anxiety. Make yourself a "clinical bag" that is for your clinical stuff only and make sure everything you need is in there, including notes, extra pens, extra eartips for stethoscope, etc.

Aside from that, try herbal tea. I like Kava Kava, but Sleepytime is good too. If worse comes to worst and you really can't sleep, take a Benadryl or two.

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Specializes in Psych ICU, addictions.

1. Have everything organized so when you wake up, you're not stressing over where this or that is, or whether your uniform is clean.

2. Be sure you're getting enough exercise...easier said than done, I know.

3. Go to bed early. Even if you're just lying there, it's better than if you're watching TV, on the computer, fiddling with your phone.

4. Try an OTC or prescription sleep aid. We can't give medical advice per our TOS, so ask your healthcare provider what he/she recommends.

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Specializes in Hospice, Palliative Care.

Good day:

If I realize I'm going to have trouble sleeping, I make sure to exercise a little more than normal (if I'm able) as well as take one to two 200 mg chelated magnesium tablets after dinner.

Thank you.

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Oh by your 3rd semester, you'll be crawling your way to your pillow. I was the same way, and this shall too pass (like a kidney stone).

I'm a natural insomniac, so while this was true for almost everybody else in my program, I couldn't say that it applied to me. And clinical days are way too draining to start them already feeling like a zombie. I seriously had to sit there and plot out how many ounces of coffee I was going to ingest at what specific time to even be able to stay awake through the exhaustion that was clinical.

I decided going into my 4th semester that I wasn't doing that any more. I'm a night owl by nature; I can easily stay up til 5 am, and find it very difficult to get up at 5 am :p. I had to start setting strict bedtimes. You never want to move your bedtime by more than 1-2 hours per night or sleep becomes difficult, so give yourself enough days to get to the proper bedtime. Ex. - My clinical day is Friday, so I let myself stay up til 2 am on Saturday and Sunday, then move it back until I'm at about 8 or 9 pm by Thursday night.

Atop that, I take doxylamine succinate on the nights before clinical. It's the active ingredient in Nyquil (Zzzquil is crap -- it's basically just benadryl) and it can be easily purchased via Amazon. I split the pills in half and take one when I know I might have trouble staying asleep, and it works like a charm. I lie down at 8 pm, am asleep by 9 pm, and I easily wake at 4:30 am feeling rested and not at all groggy. It's got wonderful reviews for a good reason. When I wake up, all of my stuff is ready to go and I just slip on my uniform and arrive early to clinical. It's made a HUGE difference in how I feel that day.

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Specializes in Hospice.
I don't feel nervous the night before clinicals, but I do make sure to wake up at a decent hour the day before so I won't have trouble going to sleep early that night. I'm not sure if you exercise, but doing so definitely helps one fall asleep more easily. Make sure you aren't hungry before bed, make sure you don't need to pee, and make sure the room is a comfortable temperature.

I am a big 'planner'. I like to lay my clinical uniform out so I can quickly put it on upon waking. I like to figure out what I'm going to eat for breakfast that morning so I can quickly prepare the food. I start my car 15 minutes before leaving so it is nice and warm when I need to leave. I ensure that I leave so that I'll arrive at least 10 minutes earlier than we are supposed to be there, in case traffic is bad or something. (10 minutes is sufficient because I live in rural Oklahoma, haha, and by traffic being bad, I mean getting stuck behind a tractor or horse trailer). Doing all of these things helps me know that my morning will go as smoothly as foreseeable, and it makes sleeping easier.

If worse comes to worst, you can always try Benadryl or melatonin to help you sleep.

This made me :roflmao:

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The more you worry about being able to sleep the worse your insomnia will become. I went through this when the hospital that I worked at was becoming more and more demanding (it's day shift. Here's your ten patients. No aide. Don't forget to bathe, feed, medicate, turn, chart, etc everyone). I saw my doctor who told me it was because I couldn't turn my mind off at night thinking about the next day. I slept fine on my days off. He prescribed ambien. It made me feel hung over (I slept but felt exhausted as if I didnt). Some use benadryl but that just makes me hyper. Best, advice? Try to relax but remember, you'll get through it and then you can have some flexibility with which shift you work (depending on position openings)

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Specializes in Pediatric Hematology/Oncology.

I won't be of much help other than to say that it's not so much the sleep you get but the breakfast you have that will make a tremendous difference for the day of clinical. I am not nervous anymore going to clinical but I still don't get more than 3-4 hours of very fractured sleep. This is because I fear too much sleeping through my alarm if I do sleep soundly (I have done this before -- not before clinical but before work so my faith in myself has been all but blown). I try to make sure the sleep I do get surrounding the clinical is quality if I can. I also don't let it get to me. It's tough trying to go through a 12 hour clinical with essentially no sleep but it's just one day. Eating a good breakfast and minimizing the caffeine until about the middle of the day (I usually wait until lunch break for coffee) has helped me a lot.

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Don't sweat it. By the time you get a little deeper into nursing school, you'll be able to fall asleep at a rock concert.

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