What to eat for 12hr clinical shifts?

ThatBigGuy · Feb 8, 2015

As a student, you will have time to take a lunch break, which you need to take advantage of because you will faint. Your body is used to being a student, and it will take some time for your body to become a nurse capable of missing meals from time to time.

As far as actual meals go, think about the basics: protein, carbs, fats, and eat a rainbow.

Breakfast (5:30ish) - Get up early enough so that you can eat a hearty breakfast. I like a couple eggs with cheese, some sort of breakfast meat, and a cereal (think Total or oatmeal instead of Lucky Charms). Or build a shake with milk, protein powder, blueberries and a handful of spinach (I SWEAR you can't taste the spinach as long as you have an assertive fruit).

Snack (10ish) - Think speed. I like meal replacement shakes. You can duck into the break room, open the packet, add it with water in your shaker, drain the whole thing, and be back on the floor in 90 seconds. It's a really great way to get 300ish calories in a short amount of time. Bars work well too, but are slower to eat.

Lunch (2ish) - Anything you'd normally eat. I like putting together an "Adult Lunchable" with a combo of whatever you'd like: ham, salami, cheese, cherry tomatoes, mushrooms, olives, baby carrots, sliced veggies, etc. Put some crackers in a separate ziplock and you have a fun lunch. I also really like leftovers and crock pot meals.

Snack - Probably another shake or snack bar. As a student, you want speed over anything else, because if you're always in the breakroom eating things, you'll get a reputation of being lazy.

Every now and then, I'd go to the cafeteria. Luckily our cafeteria was good more often than bad, and fairly inexpensive. You may not find yourself so lucky, so don't rely on it.

Focus on what you learned in nutrition class, and for your body's sake, don't eat Hot Pockets every day for lunch.

akulahawkRN, ADN, RN, EMT-P · Feb 8, 2015

In addition to the above, I would suggest that you consider eating meals or at least snacks that are reasonably high in high quality proteins. The reason is that proteins tend to curb hunger reasonably well and don't cause blood glucose spikes and resultant crash which then makes you hungry again... If you're familiar with "glycemic index" of foods, consider snacks/meals that are lower on the index as they won't cause that spike/crash problem.

As a student I pretty much always got to have a lunch. Breaks were very quick... so I just packed my meals/snacks accordingly and by paying attention to that, I managed to keep the calories down. If you're not careful, it's super easy to consume way too many calories. I found that to be somewhat of an issue during lecture days though. Clinical days were too busy for me to really get to grazing on stuff.

sjalv · Feb 8, 2015

I eat 2 poptarts with a glass of milk for breakfast, then eat whatever is in the cafeteria for lunch, and I bring a pack of those ritz peanut butter crackers to eat between after lunch and the end of the shift. Peanuts are good too assuming you don't have an allergy.

cocoa_puff · Feb 9, 2015

Thank you all for the great suggestions! :)

NerdDoc · Feb 9, 2015

akulahawkRN and ThatBigGuy are on the right track. Avoid a high-carb breakfast that's going to spike your glucose and then drop. Also avoid eating a big meal. Eggs are great for breakfast. If you like eggs but don't have time, hard-boil a dozen and keep them in your fridge. If I don't have time for breakfast in the morning, a hard-boiled egg and a cup of coffee holds me over just fine until lunch. Aside from that, some granola bars and a 1-liter bottle of water really should be all you need in addition to a small lunch. I think much better hunger than I do full and I always avoid big meals when I'm working.

Fruit Sucker · Feb 9, 2015

Oatmeal is great for complex carbohydrates. I don't put sugar in mine (I know, weird) because I don't like my blood sugar jumping up and down.

In school I developed a habit of always having a small tupperware box of cherry tomatoes in my pocket. They're just so fresh and uplifting when you need a snack.

Drink plenty of water. Even if it means you have to take pee breaks.

I had professors who didn't like students all running out to get something, so they made it mandatory that we bring lunch when we arrived. I like to take little breaks- take 5 minutes to eat a salad, later take another 5 to eat hummus and chips, have an almond milk and some peanut butter crackers. If I sit down and eat a big meal, I'm done, it makes me feel sluggish and tired.

cocoa_puff · Feb 9, 2015

I was happy to find out from my clinical instructor that she's fine with students taking occasional snack breaks if we need them, which is good for me since I do better with small, frequent meals rather than just a big meal. By the way, has anyone tried overnight oatmeal? I love it! I fill a bowl with half cup of oats, one cup of milk, a tbsp of peanut butter, and a handful of raisins. Then I leave it to soak overnight in the fridge and in the morning I can eat it in about 3 minutes! The carbs and protein hold me over for hours! :)

Thanks for sharing your ideas!