How To Survive a 12-Hour Night Shift
Some of you may be afraid of the night shift because you may have never done it before. Working the night shift is amazing for various reasons. First, you get to sleep in late, then wake up for work and still enjoy the sunshine. Secondly, it pays way more than the day shift. Figuring out a schedule is the hardest part of the night shift, but once you get it, you are good!
12- Hour Night Shift Sleep Schedule Example
Night Shift Sleep Schedule in Nursing School
The sleep schedule:
Friday: Class is 8am to 12pm, Sleep 1pm to 6pm, Work 7pm to 7am
Saturday: Sleep 8am to 2pm, Study 2pm to 6pm, Work 7pm to 7am
Sunday: Sleep 8am to 6pm, Work 7pm to 7am, Sleep after class Monday
Monday: Class 8am to 3pm, Sleep whenever you need to this day
or
Thursday: Class is 6am to 2pm, Sleep 2pm to 6pm, Work 7pm to 7am
Friday: Class is 8am to 12pm, Sleep 1pm to 6pm, Work 7pm to 7am
Saturday: Sleep 8am to 2pm, Study 2pm to 6pm, Work 7pm to 7am
Sunday is the sleep recovery and free study day.
Non-School Sleep Schedule:
Work 7pm to 7am , Sleep from 8am to 3:30 pm, Workout or see family from 3:30pm to 6pm
Or if you have kids and have to take them to school and pick them up
Work 7pm to 7am , sleep from 10am to 2pm and again from 4pm to 6pm, Taking the kids to school from 8am to 10am and picking them up from 2pm to 4pm
1) Black Out Curtains
Figuring out sleep is the biggest problem for some people, especially with the light of the windows shining through. First of all, you need black-out curtains. If you don’t have black-out curtains, you are going to struggle to sleep properly. You need to mimic the night with those curtains.
I suggest these curtains as they are affordable, have amazing ratings, and actually block out the sun.
Studies have shown that light affects your ability to sleep and actually wakes you up. That is why blocking out the light allows you to sleep better and not have one of the night shift's broken sleep schedules.
2) Reduce Distractions to Sleep
Turn your phone to "Do Not Disturb" to go to sleep. Trust me. The number of spam calls, messages, or forgetting family members can disrupt your sleep. If you are someone who is a light sleeper, I suggest using some white noise machines to help cover up the sounds of the day.
3) Nursing Eating Schedule
Night shift schedule can be confusing on when to eat. If you like to eat first thing in the morning, then do the same when you wake up for a night shift. If you wake up at 3pm, then eat breakfast and have coffee as if it were the daytime. Next, bring lunch to work and eat from 10pm to 1am. Then for dinner, try to eat lighter and eat no later than 5am. It is usually best to not eat right before you go to bed. It can be difficult to not snack at the nurse's station at 2am when you are tired but trust me, those saltines do count as calories.
Schedule:
3pm Morning Coffee and Breakfast
10pm Lunch
4am Light dinner
Meal-prepping food can be a great option for eating on a night shift schedule. Paying for meal prep plans, or simply making up about 3 meals for the next few days is all it takes. Inconsistent eating and unhealthy eating are quite a problem for night shifters. Buy cute bento boxes or meal prep containers to keep yourself in check for night-shift munchies.
4) Nurse Routine
Establish a new workout routine before or after work. Personally, after a night shift, I am too worn out to work out so I try to do it beforehand. The night schedule can feel not structured and have no routine to it. So try to build it into a part of your life and create daily habits that incorporate nights.
Eat, workout, work, sleep, repeat
Working out before a shift can make your day feel accomplished before it even starts.
5) Best Schedule for Night Shift
Create a sleeping schedule that has at least 6 hours of sleep. if you are one of those that try to work on 3 to 4 hours of sleep, your health will fail eventually. Those are usually the nurses that burn out quickly, have poor mental health and hate their jobs. After a 12 hour shift, you are pretty exhausted. It is best to take a shower, then go to bed right away. If you can try to go to bed by 8am and wake up at 2pm, then you have at least 6 hours of sleep, although 8 hours would be preferable. Try anything to go to bed properly such as curtains, white noise machines, and not looking at your phone before bed. If you wake up in the afternoon, you still have time to drink coffee, eat, workout and accomplish any tasks at home.
Get home: 7:45am
Shower and go to bed: 8am
Sleep: Until 2pm - 4pm
Coffee: 3pm
Workout: 4pm
Chores and Relax: Until 6pm
6) Caffeine
One problem is that most night shifters take in way too much caffeine. It actually gets to the point where you have had so much, you get caffeine headaches instead of caffeine curing them. balance you caffeine intake and plan when you will need your caffeine the most to survive the night.
Plan coffee when you wake up
Coffee when you get to the shift if the wake-up coffee didn't work
Mid-shift coffee
Avoid 5am coffees
I promise you do not need a coffee at 5am in the morning. Take a walk around the nurse's station or drink some ice-cold water but please don't drink coffee right before you essentially go home and try to go to bed. Just don't do it.
7) Drink Water
Night shifters are really bad about their health in general, but please try to figure out how to drink water. get a huge water jug with your entire shift's goal on it to try and drink water. Remember that the night shift is hard on the body and you need to still take care of it. Let that 4am orange pee terrify you enough to drink a gallon of water.
