Waking up early again for clinicals

That Guy, BSN, RN, EMT-B · Jan 4, 2009

Night owl checking in! Once school starts back up and I get into a rhythm of working on school stuff and working out, i usually am so dog tired by the end of the night i get to bed to wake up for clinicals. I try to work out at night that way im a bit more relaxed when I come home, shower and then bed. Seems to work a lot of the time.

Oh and I dont drink caffiene at all and eat the healthiest I can. That alone keeps my energy levels in check.

BabyLady, BSN, RN · Jan 4, 2009

I'm not a big fan of sleep aids...I never, ever take them unless I have a string of insomnia that I can't seem to break, which is usually once every 2 months or so.

However, on the times where I have got my days and nights mixed up (which I have also done during Christmas break), I usually will take a sleeping aid (a very mild OTC) about 4 days before school will start...approx 2 hours before I want to go to bed...and that is enough to "reset" my clock. I only do this for two days..that way the last two days before school, I don't take anything.

I have had doctors wanting to prescribe me Ambien, Lunesta, etc...but I refuse to take something every night.

blessedx2 · Jan 4, 2009

Im another night owl - I stayed up til 3 am last night and woke up at 8:30 so I'll hopefully be tired enough to go to sleep tonight for my 1st day of school tomorrow!

I also try drinking a warm tea (Earl Grey - its the only hot tea I like & it's decaffeinated) about an hour before bed when I have to go to bed early & get up early.

My body just functions WAYYY better at night - wish I could figure it out too. Good luck!

nurz2be · Jan 4, 2009

WHOOO WHOOO

Another owl..... I have been doing the same. During school I go to bed around 9-10 and up by 530. During break one night I even stayed up til 0530, lol. Other jobs I have had were night jobs and I LOVED IT. I am totally going to be a night nurse.

As far as making the transition, the first week will be rough but I do adjust quickly.

amjowens · Jan 4, 2009

I'm now able to schedule my courses either online or for afternoon. Since I will likely be on my sleep schedule the 6 days a week that I don't have a 7am clinical, I just think I'll be sleepy one day, and take an afternoon nap on that day of clinical. If I had morning classes, I'd adjust (just to being completely worn out at 10pm) after a week or so of this. I just finished a year-long LPN program (starting RN this Jan), and during the year, definitely felt sleep pattern required a challenge. I had to work harder at balancing the parts of myself and life that I could control, and actually found myself taking some "power naps" to help myself along.

lemonaidangel · Jan 4, 2009

What helped me was to start living on my school schedule the week before the semester started, that way it wouldn't be such a big shock to my body when I actually had to force myself to switch schedules. I don't necessarily make myself wake at at 4 AM, but I do try to go to bed and rise earlier. It's not much, but it does seem to work.

I lucked out this semester (my final one!!!), because I found out all my clinicals are in the afternoon! Leadership is 2:00-11:00 the first half, and pediatrics 1:00-7:30 the second half. So excited. This is my first ever semester not having to wake up at 4 AM to get to the hospital on time. Loving it! :loveya:

goodstudentnowRN · Jan 4, 2009

I am one too. I have gradually started to adjust two days ago. I have to leave out 0530 for clinicals which is 1 1/2 hrs. away.

9livesRN, BSN, RN · Jan 4, 2009

night owl here!!!

Oh my God, it is going to be tough!

i get outta work at midnight! get home at 1 am, and then i have to get up at 530 AM so i can go to school!

it is hard, really hard.. but its only for 1 more year!

RNMom2010 · Jan 4, 2009

Yeah I have fallen back into the night owl routine as well! I just slept till 12:30!! Luckily my classes are no earlier than 11:40, however I will not know my clinical rotation hours until classes have already started.

I start classes the 14th so as of tomorrow I am going to start setting my alarm to get up earlier and earlier every day until I am up at 8 or 9am. At least then I will have my schedule somewhat closer to when I may have to get up for AM clinicals and be able to go to bed earlier if I do have to get up at 5am! ICK!

CardioNRS~DAWN · Jan 4, 2009

Add me to the night owl list, :yawn: since the break I've been staying up til between 3am-5am. then sleep until 12pm:nono:

I am so off track, I have another week before classes start, so my plans are to get myself out of bed in the am as if I was going to school and at night turn the tv off, put books away and cut the lights out and just sleep.:zzzzz Hopefully this will rejuvenate my biological clock. :lol2:

Bea1128 · Jan 4, 2009

I'm a night person as well. This will be my first semester so it should be interesting. I hope to not have to get up any earlier than 5 a.m. to get to clinicals on time, but we'll see. I plan to start tomorrow (since the kids are going back to school) practicing by getting up and going to bed early. I have two weeks to adjust, hopefully I won't wimp out in the morning when the alarm goes off. The first week I'm going to get up at 6 a.m. and then the next week at 5 a.m. Hopefully that way it won't be such a shock! :yawn: