I've been on nights, and a nurse for a year and three months. I worked last night. I go back tonight. I don't drink caffeine after 2AM, I don't drink booze after work, I work out fairly regularly and I keep this crazy kinda night shift for the most part on my nights off (stay up til 3 or 4am, wake up at 11 or noon on nights off). My room is very dark. I don't have a tv or computer or anything distracting in there.
WHY CANT I sleep? I just want to crash so I can make it back to work tonight!
I've been laying in bed for 3.5 hours just hoping to catch a few Zzzs. Back to bed to pop a melatonin, and hopefully, crash.
One other thing...if you can cut the caffeine out past about 11pm or so, that helps tremendously. Learned that the hard way. Usually I drink my last caffeinated beverage around 2230...that way by the time I get home, it is gone from my system.
When I worked nights, I would pop some benadryl as part of my going-to-bed routine if I had to work the next night. Worked pretty well, and I always felt rested. Also, I never stopped to do errands on the way home. Always home, showered, and straight to bed.
Thanks everyone. I like the shower, eat, sleepaid idea :) I was fine with nights for a while, they're just harder on me lately and I'm not sure why.
Just a little something I haven't seen addressed....what were you socialized like, as far as when it's "okay" to sleep and get up? Is there a part of you that feels like you should be awake and functioning during the day, and maybe a little guilty for sleeping when the sun is up? Society isn't very considerate of day sleepers, and we are made to feel lazy sometimes. Maybe I'm way off the mark, but I remember when I worked noc shift, that the feeling that I should be awake and being productive during daylight hours sometimes interfered with my ability to allow myself to get some good, deep, REM sleep.
Working nights is scary. I once drove 30 minutes PAST my exit on my way home and didn't remember any of it. Several weeks ago one of my night shift friends was driving home, fell asleep at the wheel, and went head on into a concrete wall. She remembers nothing but has the swollen face and pictures to prove it!
I'm thinking the point maybe is "anesthesia" is probably not appropriate for getting to sleep during the day unless you're having surgery...
Or you're Michael Jackson...(groan)
After about three years on nights, I got to where I couldn't sleep during the day, and I was fortunate enough to be able to move to days.
I never got enough sleep when I worked nights. I slept when my child was at school, usually in bed by 8:30 or 9 and up by 2:30 to either pick him up or meet him off the bus. I had a quilt over the window, a white noise machine, the phone turned down and in a different room (but my cell phone on and beside me if my husband was out of town so the school could reach me if Ian needed me), and a fan on. I didn't usually take any sleep aids (still don't if I have to be conscious within 12 hours).
NeoNurseTX, RN
1,803 Posts
Melatonin works wonders for me. I take it right when I get home. I hope I don't build up a tolerance!