How do I go about prepping to work overnights when I’ve never done so before? I tend to go to bed at 9:30PM and would prefer to work day shift but I just relocated and all I’m seeing is night shift options. Any advice is appreciated!

Peanut butter and jelly at 3-4 am helps to get you through until 0700. 👍

My three daughters (all in their 20's) and myself all work nights, and we all handle it differently.

-One totally sticks to her night shift schedule (which doesn't allow for much of a personal life, in my opinion). If she does switch for any reason, she sleeps in the morning of her first day back, stays up '24 hours', uses Red Bull/Coffee and sleeps well for the rest of the week.
-Another switches back and forth, a little. She prefers to stick to a noon or 1 pm max 'bed time' on her days off, so her switch isn't so bad. Her day of shift she will take a benadryl or melatonin (which works REALLY well for her) and ensure a good afternoon of sleep before her first shift
-Me... I'm a bit older and don't sleep well anyways. And, my kids aren't home. I completely switch back to day life on my days off. It doesn't work for me to stay up REALLY LATE and sleep in a lot the day before or to stay up 24 hours. Ugh! ~~Let me work backwards....On my LAST day of work, I'll come home, take a nap,, and get up whenever I feel like it (usually, from 0800 until about 1300) and from there, I'm tired by my husband's bedtime and sleep most of the nights. On my days off, if I want a nap or get up at a weird hour, I just go with it. On my day BACK to work, I will take something to help me sleep well, and get to bed around noonish to get 5 hours or so sleep to get me thru the night. That works for me.

I will add when I first started workiing nights, it was a bit tough for my body to recognize the night shift. It took a week or so for that weird "I've stayed up too long" feeling to ease up. Coffee! I learned how my body works... I don't work well with NO sleep. Also... invest in your sleep! Get blackout curtains or a sleep mask, ear plugs, a fan, white noise or sleepy music, a cooling blanket...whatever helps you sleep ... daytime is noisier than you realize!

One good thing... I do have to say... night shift does have its advantages! You might actually like it! Good luck! And best of luck on your job search!

I'm not sure there's any "prep" for working 11PM to 7AM. . But I will say that If you want to lose weight (which I didn't want or need to do), choose to work the night shift in a hospital. Aside from loving my job, weight loss was about the only other benefit I had after working my first year out of nursing school in a major pediatric Hospital's ER. Sadly, after just a year, I realized my body had NEVER adjusted to working nights. I never could sleep soundly during the day, so eventually I took a new job in an adult ICU on the 3-11 shift. I actually LOVED that job; but, after two years, I missed my calling of working with kids so
I went back to Children's Hospital and accepted a day/evening job working as a salaried employee in Hematology/Oncology as an educator for kids with cancer and their parents.The patients I worked with were primarily children who had newly diagnosed solid tumors. They were scattered throughout the hospital on the orthopedic, neurosurgery, ICU, NICU and surgical floors. I did work with some of the kids and nursing staff on the hospital's oncology unit, but worked primarily with the nursing staff and surgeons on the specialty units where a child had been diagnosed with a solid tumor. My job was actually paid out of grants from the National Cancer Institute.
My role was to provide the majority of the patient's, families' and nursing staff's education about the child's cancer and its treatment. I worked on almost every floor of the the hospital (like Neurology, NICU, ICU infectious disease etc). I LOVED THAT JOB but after14 years and becoming a single parent to four kids I accepted a job as a school nurse, which to me was the ultimate pediatric job as a single parent. I worked there there until I retired 26 years later. Much to my surprise, I found out after turning in my resignation in to the schools, that our state had public retirement benefits for staff working in the schools. IT WAS A GREAT JOB FOR ME. My four kids were all in the district where I worked and I actually cut four hours/day off of my work day as I no longer had to commute an hour each way to and from work...just a short ten minutes or less drive to my schools.

I LOVED ALL of my nursing jobs and always adjusted to working the different shifts. There are SO MANY opportunities for nurses out there. I hope you find a specialty you love and have a wonderful career!!! When you love your chosen job and enjoy the patients and people you work with, you'll know you've found your "home". Best of luck to you!

I would take a nap in the afternoon or evening before I went to work the night shift. I would still be tired in the morning but this helped me to get ready to do nights.

You will get used to it! I slept with earplugs (I still do!) and an eye mask. I made sure my neighbors knew when I was working. I put a big sign on my door saying don’t knock or ring doorbell (if that’s safe where you live). I worked three nights in a row and slept as long as I wanted the day after my third night. I was a newly single mom when I started on nights and made it work somehow going to school during the day. It can be done. I always made myself a coffee around three am to finish out the shift.

See if there is a list to move to days and get on it when you start working. You will become great friends with your night shift crew!

It's helpful if you are naturally a "night" person. But if you must work nights set yourself a more or less regular routine for work nights and stick to it the best you can.
The hardest, of course, is your first night of work after some time off.

I always took some time to unwind and eat breakfast after a night shift Then went to bed as if it was night, windows darkened, cool room etc. and tried to sleep 6-7 hrs. if possible. Set an alarm to get up. Spent evening as usual except for a nap around 8:30-9pm (hopefully for about an hour.) Set an alarm to get up and prepare for work. You may find other ways to manage.

Nights can be very extremely busy...or not!. But there are always things to do and learn. Other shifts have a way of saying (We'll let nights do it! They have time!) Sometimes you learn to be inventive. Keep your ears and eyes open for any available day or evening shift . If you're already working, and doing well, you'll likely be first in line.

I actually prefer night shift because its quieter than days, less chaotic most of the time. However if you aren't a night person its very difficult to adjust your internal time clock to nights. Sleeping in the daytime can be a challenge also since most business is carried on in the day time. I used to have people call me at 10 am and ask if I was 'still' asleep. Well yeah, I had JUST gotten to sleep. Its not impossible but may not be your cup of tea. I'd give it a try and see if you can adjust. Personally I love it.

Hello love. I did nights my entire career, until recently. It’s the same precept, stay up as late as you can every night leading up to your night shift. If 2130 is your normal day schedule bed time, 0930 will be your night shift bed time. Black out shades, curtains, and, I added limo tint to my bedroom windows. I sleep with earplugs and have a very cool room. Your body has to get used to the over nights, you do not get to sleep your normal hours. Hope that helps you. Good luck.

Preparing is very difficult. We worked 12.5 shifts, so what I did was take a nap for a few hours before my shift. If I was working 2 nights in a role I would go to sleep when I got home, after my shower, and do a few small things around the house. I would sleep until 3 hours prior to having to leave. I would get up shower make some "dinner" eat and go back to work. 30-45 minutes to commute. If I was not working the night, I came home I would only sleep 4 hours so I could go to sleep that night. I believe people with 8-hour shifts on nights may do this differently. Hope this helps. You will be tired, but it is just one of the things you have to do until a day position opens. I realized how tired I was after 10 years, and I switched to days. One of the greatest things is when you have young children you can still be involved in their activities by moving your sleep around. I was the scout leader, and class mom, and involved with the PTA. Good Luck.

When I worked the night shift, I would always stay up the night before which would allow me to sleep all day before work. I played a lot of video games, and finished my BSN on those nights. I tended to stay away from reading/watching movies because I would fall asleep. I would always go get a large coffee or two about 8pm, drink the first one really quickly and then just sip on the other one throughout the night. Benadryl helped me sleep thought the day, as well as great black out curtains. Good luck!

It takes at least 6 months to establish a routine of sleeping during the day. I only sleep 4 hours then awake for 4 hours try and get in another 2 hours of sleep before getting ready for work. I try to do all my business on my days off.

try to sleep during the day , then you will have full energy for night , if you still could not stay awake , then coffee and tea will help.

Hi! I worked nights for almost 20 years… my best advice is if possible, work your shifts in a row…2, 3, 4 nights straight, and if only off 1 night between shifts, don’t flip to sleeping at night… keep same routine. Go to bed by 8-9 am after working, try to sleep til 4 pm. Stay hydrated, caffeine is your friend at 3 am!

Your day is completely flipped from the rest of the world so it does have challenges. I usually work days, but occasionally have to work nights on an assignment. I start several days before by staying up until midnight for the first night, usually in bed for dayshift about the same time as you. Then the next day until 2/3 am. When I'm not working I stick to that so I can have a little daylight life on my days off. If you have longer than 3 days to transition, it's easier for you.
On my days off I try to sleep in until at least noon so the transition back to work isn't so bad. When I need to sleep after some days off, to get back to work, I try to stay up until about 4 or 5 am then take ashwagandha to relax and help me sleep. Benadryl isn't good for your brain, and I read somewhere melatonin isn't great either. But look up side effects to make sure it isn't contraindicated for you.
To be honest, it's a challenge for me, but some sync in easier. You'll find what works for you. Just experiment a little. And good luck!

I worked the night shift for many years. The truck is to readjust your schedule. Sleep in late each day for a week. You’ll find it easy to be up at night. Especially if you’re busy. When the daylight starts you’ll want to sleep.

I like to do my food prep for my work stretch the day before I start. You’re always hungrier on night shift so pack a little more than you think you need. The 4 AM heartburn is a real thing, bring something for that. As far as sleeping, you could try and stay up as late as you can the night before so you can sleep late the next day or what might work better for your first day on is to wake up super early. Have a busy morning / early afternoon then try for a long nap around noon or 1 ( my shift starts at 1900). You could have your “morning” coffee on your way to work or save it until 10 or midnight. In the mornings, if I need time to wind down, I like to read in bed with a Sleepytime tea. But most mornings, I’m able to go right to bed, it’s a different kind of tired after a 12 hour night shift! Think about if you need an eye mask or darker curtains, and a box fan / white noise is great at drowning out the daytime outside noises. Good luck! You might really like the chill vibes of the night shift.

Instead of going to bed at 9:30pm stay up as late as you can, doing at night something you would've done in the day time. Get earplugs, light blocking curtains, tell your friends to not call during your sleeping hours. Eventually, you will adapt to sleeping during the day. Night shift has a lot of advantages but as you know good sleep is very important for good health, so, work at night and sleep during your decided hours during the day.

I work night shift on purpose, even before I was a nurse. I'm naturally a night owl anyway, but also have no problem switching to a more "normal" sleep/wake on my off days. Some people have a wicked time sleeping during the day and never truly adapt to night shift.

I work 12 hour nights, 7p-7a. Lots of people go to bed as soon as they get home. I don't. I have horses and dogs to take care of when I get home, and I also just like to chill out before going to bed. I go to bed at 11am-noon, and get up at 530pm. Yeah I'm slightly sleep deprived on the days I work, but I catch up my first night off. I'm lucky that my schedule never varies and all of my shifts are in a row- none of this work 2- off 1 -work 1-off 2 crap. That's fine for days, but not us vampires. On my first night off, I usually just stay up all day, do my weekly shopping, and go to bed early like 9pm and sleep until 8 or 9 am. Then I sleep like normal people until my first night back, then I just make sure to take at least a 3-4hr nap right before I get up to go to work(sometimes with the help of a benadryl). I live in the country, so there's not much noise or interruptions during the day, but I still wear earplugs so I don't really hear the dogs or TV, and keep the bedroom dark.

Switching to night shift is tough, especially when you're used to working dayshift. I went through the same thing and each individual will have his/her own sleeping schedule. It's really trial and error for me until I found what worked best. The night before I have to work, I stay up as late as possible up until midnight or 0200. I set my alarm to wake up at 0600 and do whatever I need to do for the day. Then I take a melatonin and/or Benadryl around 0900 to help me fall asleep again. My second alarm is set for 1630 or 1700, depending on how long you need to get ready for work. Unfortunately, working nights means caffeine and energy drinks are your best friend! So, your body goes into shock because it gets confused with the energy drinks to stay awake at night and then taking sleep aides to sleep during the day! By the second and third night of work, your body will not have any problem falling asleep. Then the cycle repeats itself when you're off for a few days- caffeine and energy drinks at night and then sleep aides in the morning! I wish you the best of luck. You will find what works best for you with trial and error. :)

The best answer I can give you would be how I handled my first night, generally just lay low during the day of the beginning of your night shifts, and even take a nap if possible during your afternoon.I would tend things around the house and eat light during the day as well,because it is good to space out your eating (eating made me tired) the first night of work. A nap was always a must for me!
All the best to you.

The only

After 45 years of nursing I have worked all shifts. For 12 hour nights, try and work your 3 days in a row. Have blackout curtains in your bedroom and keep your bedroom cool. On your first morning off sleep when you get off until about 1pm so you will be able to sleep that night even if it is 12 or 1am when you go to sleep.
If you have 3-4 days off transition to being awake during the day will happen over a couple of your off days. I also did wind down yoga before sleep.
On the night before your next day of work stay up as late as you can. I stay up until about 5Am so I can sleep until about 3pm. If you do this you will not be as tired at work on your first night back.
Drink plenty of water and eat nutritionally. I also only drink 1 cup of coffee per 24 hours.
I loved night shift and the people who work it however have done them all. Good luck with your new job.

DA

try staying up all night the night before you have to go to work and sleep all day. good luck.

As a nurse who has worked night shift for many years, my advice would be to start conditioning your body to sleep in the afternoon and wake up at night. Once you get to work, it's easy to stay awake as you will be as busy as if it were day.

I have worked nights for over 25 years. If I find it difficult to get to sleep, I take children’s dose of benadryl, 6.25 - 12.5 mg. The dose is small enough that it helps me fall asleep, but doesn’t leave me with the groggy feelings.

I was going to school and working days for years, and the perfect job in pediatrics came open but it was 10 hr night shifts, 4 nights a week. i had 2 weeks to get accustomed to nights. I probably did not do it the best way but I started drinking coffee and tea about 9pm, and made myself stay up until 1-2am for the first 2 weeks, then increased staying up until 4-5am, for me after 5am I got a boost of energy and finishing off the night was not too bad. dont drink caffeine or eat much sugar after 3am at the very latest you need to beable to sleep during the day. I did toast and some kind of protein, scrambled egg, peanut butter toast etc, and then shower and then climb into bed watch a little tv, or listen to the radio and try to sleep,I could not do a lot of chatting with friends it seemed to wind me up. reading helped me relax. It took me maybe 2-3 weeks and I was doing pretty good with the new sleeping sched.try to get some black out curtains, for your bedroom, make it dark in your room that sure helped me sleep. Don't get hooked on sleeping pills they dont help that much. Good Luck Be Patient with yourself it takes some time to readjust but I really liked working nights once i got adjusted and to be in a good routine with sleeping and working i felt like i had a good routine after 2-3 weeks.

Working nights is not easy. There are some nurses that love it, but most tolerate it until they return to days. Before you start work, try to adjust your bedtime to later, to get used to being up at midnight or beyond. It can be hard on a body to adjust, so give it some practice time. The closer you remain to the night routine on your days off, the easier it will be. I know it’s hard with family and friends but if you try to do both, you will end up working with only a couple of hours of sleep or sometimes none. Be adamant about working your 3 12 hr shifts in a row. It will give you 4 off in a row, and time for family and friends. Good luck, and hopefully you will be on days soon.

Start staying up as late as possible and sleep in. Make your room dark so it's easier to sleep in daytime. I have been doing nights for 10 years and love it.

To be honest, this is a stressful situation you are in. Best solution is find a Day position. No matter how you prepare, if your body has been accustomed to day hours, transitioning to nights is extremely hard. The nurses who work nights are uniquely unique! I say that in praise. No amount of prep will prepare you, it’s hard on your life, body and health. The money is great but the trade off is shit! I have personal experience for 8 years and recently tried doing a four month stent on nights only to jeopardize my life and others o. The roads and highways. At work I would be fine but leaving and coming was a feat. If you live five miles near your job, chances better but if 30 minutes to one hour plus… Danger!!!!!!!

1. Cover your windows in bedroom with aluminum foil or very dark black out curtains.
2. Keep the same sleep schedule if possible that you had when working day shift just in reverse.
3. If your unit has you take call try to take call the day after your last scheduled work day.
4. If you have kids.......put them in daycare or in summer put them in a summer camp. If you keep them at home you will never get any sleep. They are not nocturnal! They stay awake in the daytime!
5. Make sure you tell your family and friends when you have sleep hours so they do not call you to chit chat at 11:00 a.m.! Tell your mom especially.
6. On your day off only sleep like 4 hours then get up so you can sleep that night.
7. On the day you return to work try to get a 4-6 hour nap before going into shift.
8. I once read a newspaper article that said for every 3 yrs you work nightshift you take 10 years off your total life expectancy. I thought this sounded crzy til I worked night shift for 2 years and had five kids I was raising! I fugured it out quite quickly!

I am totally a morning/day person! I'm in bed by 9PM. However, when I was a new grad I had to work night shift for 4 years before I was able to transition off. I would stay up the night before my first shift so I could sleep that day. When I came home in the morning, I was usually in bed by 9AM, waking up around 4:30PM. Many of my coworkers would only nap during the day. Some had their small kids home with them during the day. I couldn't do that for a couple reasons: 1) I need adequate sleep, not just to feel good but to be a safe nurse! 2) I utilized day care so I could sleep during the day. My schedule was wonky, but my infants was not. I couldn't sleep while she was awake all day.
I addition to getting adequate sleep, I would recommend you take care of yourself! Eat nutritious food. Limit your sugar and caffeine (I know, I know! Night shift runs on both sugar and caffeine. But you will TOTALLY feel better and function better if you nourish your body)Get regular exercise. A busy shift does not count as exercise... And hang in there. Hopefully a more compatible schedule is in your near future!

I worked night shift for about 11/2 year total. I had 3 young children. I would not work 2 nights in a row, because I had a hard time sleeping in the day, and I had limited time to sleep based on the babysitters hours. As time allowed, I slept approx 4 hours on the following day of a 12 hr shift, then back to sleep the same night at the usual bedtime hours. The next day I would feel fine and ready to work. I was part-time , so this was only 2 nights per week, but it worked for me. Good Luck : ). I think now that I am experienced RN, I require only 4-6 hours sleep and feel fine. We senior RN's could do night shift very easily, Unsure why we start these young RN Grads with children on nights.

Just stay up later and later and get up later and later for a couple of weeks before you go to nights. If you’re naturally a night person you’ll find this is a piece of cake. Most of night shifts are nowhere near as fast paced or demanding as days so don’t sweat going in a little tired.

I use to hate nights but think of the differential and extra pay. I learned about prepping my food on the first day of work( include snacks and lot of water or fluids) that usually help. Most of the cafeteria in the hospital or restaurants are closed, so snacks or easy food to nibble is important. Fruits, coffee, etc.
hope this helps.

Stay up until 1 or 2 am, then try to sleep in late.

Ask your employer bc they might need daylight RNs also.

Well coming from someone that has worked nights for decades. The first night back I try to nap for an hour or 2 if possible. I work all my nights in a row each week so I work all weekends. Between shifts I have no problem going to sleep. On Monday if I don’t pick up as overtime. I stay up as long as I can then crash and sleep all night. Could be 5pm. To help sleep during the day you need a place that is dark and quiet with some kind of back ground noise I have my tv on most of the time. White noise on a radio. Something so you don’t hear people outside. As much. Hope this helps. At first it’s hard to sleep during day. Some nurses take melatonin or another sleep aid to sleep. Good luck. I too was forced into nights back in 1997 after moving to Colorado from Delaware. Never switched back to days.

Your sleep schedule is going to be determined by your family life. Having a great support team at home helps a lot. It also depends on how much sleep you need to function. Your kids, if any, their age, and spouse factor a lot in how you can actually sleep. My kids are grown and live separately from my spouse and I. We share the house chores and have a schedule for our dogs that work around our sleep. I can never go right to sleep when I get off so I try to lay down around 1200 to 1400 and sleep until 1900 to 2000. I also place my phone on silence and do not disturb. That and no one bothers me once I'm in bed to sleep. It's a balancing act. Good luck.

Hi! I have been a night nurse 32 years, I’d like a day position., will consider nights. Being a night nurse, I try to stay up the night before, and if able sleep up to hours prior to my shift.

I have been a night nurse inpatient and Emergency Department. Currently looking for a day position, will consider nights.

Simply put: do not work night shift if you are not a night person. If you wish to work shift because there are no day shifts available in your area, relocate to some place where there are day shift needs. If you still want to try night shift then start slowly and build up your time, ability, risk, and safety on and off the job.

I worked nights very successfully for about 5 years. The secret is developing a sleep pattern and sticking to it. Routinely I slept during the day from 9 25 am tom4 pm. No evening naps before work. I do think I am a high energy person so that helps. Maintaining a meal pattern can b a challenge. Eat breakfast when you get home, dinner at dinner time and then a meal mid shift, your days off just take a four hour nap after your shift then bed at your normal 930 pm time. It may take a couple of weeks to adjust but maintaining a set schedule is crucial. You may have to adjust times according to your specific situation. Good luck

When I got out of school nights were the only thing available. To prep, I stayed up a couple hours later each night. When I started my job, the first day I couldn’t sleep during the day. After that, I was exhausted! I slept the next day!

Set the stage so that you can have uninterrupted sleep during the day before and after a shift. You could get black-out curtains, but all I needed was a good, comfortable eye mask and ear plugs. Before your first overnight shift try to sleep in later and take a long nap. You're going to be tired and it will be hard, but it gets better. People do it all different ways, but I would try to work three in a row so that I could stay on my night schedule half the week and then flip to my day schedule the other half. You will figure out what works for you, but chances are good you won't get as much sleep. Also, it can be disheartening to be in the middle of a shift at 3 am, but try to find things you appreciate about it. I loved the calm that came over everything at that time of night. And the camaraderie among the staff couldn't be beat. We'd often gather together near the windows to watch the sunrise. If it's what you have to do, embrace it.

Hi,
Blackout current work great. Also a white noise machine helps block out all the noise during the morning. Perhaps some sleep aids. Hope this helps

I work nights. Once you acclimate your body to the shift stay awake at night even when you are off. For starters try and sleep as long as you can during the day. Wake up 2 hrs or so prior to the time your shift would start and clean up (do something to get your body moving) If you are a dayshift nurse work with an agency and pick up your preferred shift

I always found the night shift difficult to sleep, but you need to set a schedule for yourself. I do believe that you will not know how your body reacts as your circadian rhythm will be thrown off., until you start working.

Sleep protocol is paramount.
1 get a sleep mask
2 take supplemental melatonin to mimic your body’s secretion
3 get black out curtains. The goal is to not be able to see your hand in front of your face
4 supplemental GABA and Glycine can help promote better sleep
5 no phone 1 hr before bed
6 no TV in the bedroom and no TV 1 hr before bed
7 keep the room cool, mid 60s has been best in most studies. See what works for you.

If these are not effective low dose trazadone can be used as it still lets the body train the stages of sleep unlike things like ambient or lunesta.

Hope this helps.

You have to go to bed earlier than 8 hours before your shift to get your body to wind down. Melatonin helped me through my night shift years.