It was my first nursing job and I was super-excited, but I was put on the night shift. I was terrified. I don’t think I’d ever stayed up from 7 pm to 7 am more than a couple of times in my life. All of a sudden, I was going to be doing it three days a week. I was really, really scared about that, so I looked all over the place for things to do to make it work to be able to stay up all night.
It depends if I’d be working three days in a row, two days in a row, or just one shift.
If I’m working three days in a row, what I usually do the first night of those three days is I’ll go to bed at 11:00 in the afternoon, so I’ll sleep normally the night before, and then that day. I’ll try to wake up by 6:00 or 7:00 in the morning so that I’m tired, and then by 11:00, I can sleep until 3:00 or 4:00. That’s kind of my plan. So, I’ll go to bed at 11:00 in the afternoon, try to sleep until 3:00 or 4:00, then wake up, get ready, shower, eat, and all that stuff, and then go to work. When I get home from work, usually about 8:00, 8:30 in the morning, I try to go to sleep as close to 9:00 or 10:00 as I can. I can sleep then from 9:00, again, ’til 2:00, 3:00, 4:00. That’s my goal. Then I’ll be able to wake up and go to work the next day. I’ll do that every day of those three days.
If I’m just working two days, however, I usually stay up ’til about 1:00 in the afternoon, sleep from 1:00 to about 4:00, so I get three hours of sleep before work and then come home, go right to bed, sleep ’til 2:00, 3:00, hopefully, 4:00 if I can. If I’m working just one day and I don’t have any more days coming up really soon, then I’ll go to bed, again, probably like 2:00, sleep from 2:00 to 4:00, 2:00 to 5:00, something like that, so I’ll get two or three hours of sleep.
On the shift, to be completely honest, I usually have caffeine before going to work. I’ll have a Coke or a Mountain Dew and then I’ll have one at about 11:00. I used to have one at 11:00 and one at about 1:00 or 2:00. Again, like a 12-ounce Coke or Mountain Dew or something. Now I’ve cut back and I’ve found that I can get by with just one can of Coke during shift. Sometimes I’ve even been able to go without any caffeine and then come home and go to sleep.
When starting the night shift make sure you’re getting good sleep on the days you’re not working, going to bed at 10:00, or whatever, waking up at 6:00 or 7:00, and then on the days that you’re working to definitely take a nap during the day. That’s how you’re going to have the energy you need to be able to stay awake and take care of your patients. I bring a lot of little snacks that I can eat. I don’t usually eat a big lunch, I’ll bring a lot of little snacks. Things like Cheez-Its, granola, trail mix, stuff like that, and that really keep me awake and eating quickly while I’m charting or whatever. So, those are the things I’d recommend to you if you’re working the night shift on how to stay awake. Go ahead and subscribe and leave a comment if you have any other suggestions or have any other questions. I’d love to hear from you. Always check us out at nrsng.com