What YOU NEED TO KNOW before going to NIGHT SHIFT 

On night shift as well. Those 14-16 hr shifts are tough this simple advice helps! I didn't get enough sleep last weekend and while I was on my way to work I had a seizure and plowed into a hillside. Sleep is serious! Get enough of it 🥰

not a nurse but I am a nightshift dispatcher and that sunlight point is toooo reallllll. working 6 pm-6am in the winter means you could easily avoid catching any sunlight for 4 straight months if you wanted to. trust me. DON'T.

I've worked nights for nearly 20 years now. Never did the black out curtains or noise. I like to sleep with the sun coming in my windows. Took a few years to get used to it. I started working nights when I lived with my parents and they wouldn't let me put up curtains. No caffeine after midnight for me. Yes, sleep is serious. Don't mess around with it. Night shift is the best shift.

And on your days off if you can keep your sleep schedule. Don't try the "stay up after work because I'm off" You'll crash halfway through the day and mess up the sleep.

Even more difficult with a family who is about to get up when I finally get to hit the bed 😭

I did nights for over 20 yrs. The blackout curtains is a must. Make your room as dark as midnight. It really does help. I never could wear an eye mask. Many of my co workers lived theirs. If I had to go back to bedside it would be in nights again.

omg I just started a night shift as an EKG tech! I seriously needed this!!

I remember on my days off being wide awake at 3am with no one to talk to and no where to go.

I worked night shifts for 22 years. Now in retirement I still can’t revert the sleep pattern completely!

The struggle with timing my caffeine intake so as to not interfere with my sleep when I get home but still enable me to be awake enough not to die in a fiery car crash on the way there.

Some people don't realize you can't just go home after working the night shift and go to bed. People working 9:00-5:00 stay up for hours before going to bed. It doesn't matter what shift you have, you need time to unwind from your day! Normally you would have dinner shortly after you got home. You need to have a schedule that works for the night shift. I loved working the night shift! Back then, many stores were open all night. I would do my grocery shopping in the wee hours of the night when the store wasn't crowded. You have to create a schedule that works for you and becomes your regular routine. After a while, you will either love it or hate it! If you're a night person, you'll probably love it!

I have no problems sleeping during the day. I don't need to be in the dark 😁

The Huberman Lab Podcast with Dr. Huberman (a Yale professor and researcher) talks at length about the importance of viewing sunlight within 20-30 mins of waking up, for at least 10 minutes. He says it’s the most important tip he can give for people with sleep issues. It can’t be through a window or sunglasses, you have to actually go outside.

I did night shifts as a dispatcher in emergency services for my first job. WORST DECISION EVER. I’m a night owl, but oml it was so boring sitting at a chair for 8-9 hours every night watching cameras. Occasionally answering the phone. Nothing really ever happened. Occasionally I had to call police on a break in or aggressive people. But it was hell over all. I quit after few months. I never saw my friends or family since I slept all day, I was getting depressed from lack of sunlight, fresh air and social interactions. It’s definitely not a job for everyone

The stress that compounds from not doing these things and taking care is the scariest part. The cortisol, the adrenal glands, mood disturbances increase, the serious health complications that happen 5-10 years later( it just progresses). This video is the ultimate key for saving yourself. Eat well instead of junk, eating a meal in the sunshine is another trick too.

Thank you😭 as I enter in night shift this month !!!!

Be careful if you work a nightshift during the shorter winter days. I was going to bed in the darkness before sunrise, sleeping during the short span of daylight, and waking up in the darkness after sunset. When I was working on a ship, I realized that I had not seen the sun in over a week. I had to set an alarm mid sleep. I'd get up. I'd go get fresh air and sunlight. Then I'd go back to finish the rest of my sleep. Doing this intentionally made a huge change in my overall mood and energy levels.

I work night shift now, I taped my blackout curtains to the wall and put towels on top so no light can penetrate through them, 2 box fans with different levels of noisiness, and for sure never a sip of anything caffeinated after lunch is over (around 3a.m), all water till it’s time to crawl into bed and then do it all over again 😂

i worked nights in a warehouse, for sleep i use a fan and play rain noise on a google home on my nightstand. also, eat midway through when you can, eating after work can keep you up

Creating a reasonable routine is key with night shift!

All great advise. I would add that you should restrict any liquid starting about 2 hours before you go to bed. This will limit the times you wake up to urinate. Sips of water are ok. And, if you can avoid it, do not shift your sleep schedule when you are off. Constantly going from day to night sleep will make you sick and alter your brain.

This is very good to know. I'm taking on an undergraduate nurse position this summer and I'm going to have to do night shifts for the first time. I'm very nervous because my sleep hygiene ain't the greatest

It's recommended for your mental wellbeing to spend just 17 minutes outside. It drastically reduces stress levels and makes you feel better.

I use the fan noise on my phone too sometimes. Lol

It messes with women's cycles too. Glorious nights, nice to know im not the only one so serious about my sleep.

I'm going to start night shift next month! Wish me luck! Really glad I found this first!

This is night shift advice for a day person. If you are a natural night person, night shift is no biggie.

Good advice. As someone who did it for years, the best thing I did was quit

Her voice is so soothing omg!

My caffeine rule was 1am 😂

Currently @ a night shift till 6am in Germany Ambulance driver. What is sleep ?

I’ve done night shifts for about 4 year total off and on in my life, and you are sooooo right about all of this, especially the 4am slump

I've worked overnights for over 30 years and other than people STILL not understanding that 2pm is my 2am and not a good time to call or drop by...I love it and feel I'm completely acclimated. Once I retire I'll keep this schedule as long as I can. It's certainly gotten easier over the years as you can pretty much do anything at odd hours now. Like paying bills, shopping etc. I love grocery shopping in the middle of the night. Stores are back to 24hrs after stopping during the Pandemic and you have the store to yourself. A good pair of sunglasses is required as sun will hurt.

I used to live in the apartment above a cocktail waitress who worked nights. I wish she would have used fans and ear plugs and all of that. Instead, my husband and I were constantly harassed by her for simply walking around on the weekends in our own apartment. It was a 1 bedroom apartment so it’s not as if we were running around doing crazy movements. We were doing normal things like cooking or putting groceries away or exercising at 11am on a Saturday. She would bang really hard on the ceiling with a broomstick and sometimes come bang on our door complaining that because she worked night shift we had to be quiet. She literally threatened us with her boyfriend which I guess didn’t work out when her boyfriend saw that my husband was no tiny guy. So, if you work night shifts and live in an apartment maybe ask for the top floor or else be prepared to use noise canceling methods during the day!

Worked night shift for 17 years... I didn't mind it but man you are 100% right when it comes to the noise machine/ fan sounds and black out curtains!!!

As someone who's been working graveyard since 2014 I definitely do agree when she talks about the sleep schedule. I started school at the beginning of 2022 and I straight up told my teacher that since I work graveyards I have a very strict sleep schedule, luckily she understood

I use bedtime stories. They are really good

THX, YOU ROCK GIRL!

"We don't mess around when it comes to sleep" no truer words. Sleep is everything! Eye covers are great. I wish I'd discovered then years earlier. retired now, but after almost 3 decades of being a night nurse, i don't sleep well without them. 4 am brain drain - move! get that adrenaline going for a boost to get to the end of the shift. I mean it, moving helps a lot. I never had a nurse machine because I lived in the country; but, i remember washing up once and my kids were playing. The oldest chid was chiding the others saying, " quiet down. Mom's sleeping." So sweet. No one knows how important sleep is until you've worked nights.

Advice? Just retired after 32yrs 12hr 7p-7a ICU noc shift. There are some of us that are naturally nocturnal. I'm not and never was an early riser. Its harder if you have school age children but you can change your bedtime and wakeup to make it work. What worked for me is if you maintain a normal "daytime" like schedule. Dont go to bed right away when you get home. Think like a dayshift person. A dayshifter wouldn't go to bed at 6pm when you got home at the end of the day. You would plan dinner, catch up with kids and spouse, after school activities etc, have dinner, help with homework, get everyone ready for school the next day then sometime around 10:30 go to bed. And then, ( here's the important part) sleep straight through and get up just before you have to go to work. I do all of a Dayshift routine, only do it in the morning, in reverse. Stay up, have breakfast, read the paper, putter around in my garden, do my shopping, (perfect time to schedule any type of appointments.) Dont go to bed until 10 or 11am very latest 12 noon. By then you are tired. Thats when, like a regular day shift person would, you are ready to get 7-8 hrs quiet uninterrupted sleep. Most that are new to night shift get too agitated and distracted and are over-thinking the clock instead of the daily routine of activities. Do what you do with your daily activities instead of with the clock and you will stress less and sleep better. Years ago I took a dayshift position when it was "my turn" and after 8 mos. went back to nights. I got more stuff done & had a more regular activity schedule. 12 hr dayshifts didn't get off until 7:30pm. Had to be up at 6am, was tired by 3pm but wasn't off for another 4 1/2 hrs. Had late dinner, everything was closed so had to do everything on your days off. Bummer. Get blackout curtains or shades. Close the door and put on quiet music that you just barely hear. I wear ear buds that still let me hear the alarm clock.

Dark sunglasses(wraparounds if you can find them)if you get off after the sun comes up. And a full spectrum plant/grow light especially if you wake up after sun sets or on cloudy days

One thing I never thought of at the time, was to use one of those strong sun lamps for SAD. That might have helped during the winter.

4am was the worst time, then suddenly 6.30 and I'm awake my body thinking there is no need for sleep! I also had a sign on my front door advising that on pain of my extreme anger to only ring the bell if there was an emergency

I prefer the nightshift. It doesn't fuck with my natural sleep schedule and I have so much more energy.

I'm not a nurse, but I work as a janitor overnight at a hospital. Your completely correct on all the above. Another thing is One thing my sleep pattern doesn't change I'm on 5 days a week.

All of these are great advice, I’ve been on night for about a year. One thing that has helped me tremendously is not drinking caffeine until 90 min after I wake up and not drinking caffeine past 12. This helps prevent the 4am crash but also gives the caffeine enough time to get out of my system so I can go to sleep when I get home.

I love my blackout curtains! Best thing I ever bought as a nightshifter.

This is good! Box fan is like master level knowledge.

I'm a night owl, so graveyard shift is my preferred shift😂

Survived 16 years of nights…loved it but don’t miss it even one little bit.

Sunrise alarms are a lifesaver!

Honestly I loved nights when I worked. I am naturally a night owl. I use to work 16 hour days and loved my night shifts I asked for them.

I didn't know there was a thing that you could have the noise from a fan on your phone thanks for sharing

Proof my phone is listening to me that this showed up after I agreed to switch to night shift because of our staffing problems

The bulk of my work starts at 4! Not that the rest of the night is dull, just that I know I have work to do starting at 4.

I've been a night shifter for ten years. These are al SO true lol there are so many more to add to the list

Starting the third shift life after I get off of orientation so I've been dying for advice like this. Every other video is "make sure you have coffee and snacks and also buy these cute scrubs!"

Thanks for this

Very helpful thanks 😊

Been a nightshifter for years no caf after 2, and go carefull with what you eat, and if you need to poop at work poop, no sleep if you're blocked up, showers to wake up and go to sleep, drink loads and snacks are important

going outside helps you feel like you arent wasting your life too, going from dark in to light out just to sleep feels bad, its when i get up for sun then go to work its better that way

Oof my mom just finally finished her contract on nights and switched to days again and she’s so much happier. It hurt my whole family’s hearts to see how miserable she was on nights, like she’d straight up cry while getting ready for work.

Caffeine relaxes me and makes me drowsy and helps me sleep

i’ve been working night shift since 2006 as a bedside nurse . i don’t have any problems sleeping . actually i ca sleep through any thing . and on my nights off i only have to sleep a few hours and i’ll get up shower and go about my day 😊

Great info! Thanks

I used to have my coffee at 3 am, which got me to 7:30 when I got in my car.

I worked nights as a nurse for a long time. I am a night owl by nature so 5am was my challenge. But I never had sound machines, blackout curtains and no mask. I could drink coffee any time I wanted but not with sugar. Once I drank a coke and the combo of sugar and caffeine was a disaster. I was awake. Period. Also, unless it’s summer , you might not see the sun until your shift is over and sometimes that is true in summer if you work 11 to 7. Don’t drink alcohol. The glass of wine will destroy your REM sleep. Do not exercise. It will wake you up. Tired and sleepy are not the same thing. These days I would recommend a good meditation app. And this one is an odd one but I couldn’t eat after midnight. If I did, I would eat every two hours 3 or 4 times and interrupted sleep is not good.😂 Night Shift is good. You can do it!

My boyfriend works night shifts at the port and it is too much. Dinner at 330 am is just not my body's cup of tea lmao

Not a nurse or Dr or anything like that but I did nights for 11 years. I am blessed that I can sleep just about anywhere anytime. But the first year I was getting sick every other month. It was crazy. For me drinking caffeine (ie. Sweet nectar of life!) didn't bother me about not sleeping later. I would get off at 7. Sit on the couch to relax (cause I couldn't do going right to bed) but I would have a cup of coffee actively drinking it and start falling asleep. I miss 3rd shift

Another tip: E A T I lost 70+ lbs over the course of 2 months on nightshift because I wasn’t eating properly (no breaks at work to eat, didn’t have time before work, too exhausted after to make anything) and also probably from lack of sleep. Id have a single serving of chips and cheese from tacobell a day for a while when working nights. Another tip: don’t feel bad about setting boundaries about your schedule/sleep with friends/family. I was sacrificing so much sleep time to be able to spend time with day oriented friends and family, there is nothing wrong with saying “I need to be home by X:XX” or “I’m unavailable from X time - X time” to have enough time for sleep in your day

THIS SHOULD APPLY TO ALL PPL . too many folks stay out nights more than day, during days are stuck inside on screens or in clubs & etc. No outside daylight time WILL create a bunch of cranky ass emotionally insane folks. Ppl NEED sunlight and outside air time daily if not you will slowly start getting icky feeling then actually become physically sick as well as mentally degraded over time. I agree with the box fan. I lived with box fan next to my bed for 38 yrs now 😂 You mam are very calming for a night shifter lol

I also recommend that you use eye cream and moisturizer. I came out a shift and looked dead af 💀

Relate strongly

my trucking friends and I call 0400 the "pre-dawn slump"

I need something to keep that survival adrenaline down

19 yrs at bedside. 15 of them on nights. I'm pretty sure it's taken 5 yrs off my life. Remember long ago I used to fall asleep and magically wake up in 8 hrs. That has not happened again since nursing school

My adrenals are so fucked up right now I can drink 800mgs of caffeine and still go to sleep.

Winter is fun I barely see sun during my night shift weeks Just get home when It's still dark.. Go to sleep when It's not quite bright yet And wake up just as It's getting dark again Yay

I worked nights for a long time. It's rough! My bf and roommate still do it

Deep breath… I got this 🤦🏾‍♀️ I’m so nervous ima first time nurse so I’m freaking out

6 Years here and now pregnant. I've never fully been able to figure out how to balance my life. Hopefully after baby I'll get back on track and maybe work a different shift. I love nights but i don't think it will be ideal anymore

All of these except for the fan sounds. My spouse and I have been going to sleep with audiobooks for years. My sister got me the Best Thing Ever! A Bluetooth sleep mask! I can put the volume at my personal comfort level and my family can resume activity as normal while I sleep. 😁 Even keeps my dogs barking out, with a little home done sound proofing to the window.

I've done both days and nights for years.. sometimes in the same week. I am retired now but am still up part of the night

Flip the pm to am... so if the clock says 8pm...in your world on nightshift, that's 8 am. Keeping that in mind will help you schedule everything much easier.

I just worked my first day shift after 2 years on nights, I felt like I was going to pass out lol

I've been running on 4 hours of sleep since 1994.

I would really like to speak with you about nursing as a firefighter trying to become a nurse

I work 7pm to 7:30am 6 days straight in a hospital. No matter how much sun, darkness, caffeine or whatever I get when I get home I'm sleeping by 10am. With the curtains open, sun blasting in. 😅 When your body is tired, it's tired.

Sounds much healthier than what your law enforcement counterparts do. My hubby just lives on energy drinks, Slim Jim's, and chew. Then hibernates in-between shifts. 😆

I struggle to stay awake between 4-5am so I need caffeine at that time! Luckily I’m one of those ppl that can drink caffeine and sleep no problem.

Working night shift sucks when you live with people who have no concept that day time is your sleeping time. I used to live with my mom when I worked a night shift job, and she would demand that I drive her to work after I got off work and wake me up during the day for dumb stuff, complaining that I was home all day, so I should be getting more stuff done. I love my mom, but thank God I don't live with her anymore and don't work nights anymore.

I could never fully adjust, mostly because after 3 twelves I couldnt switch back to days when at home, but I had to, to do day things. It like killed me.

I used to work the night shift and yes I wish I would have known some of these tips because sleep is no joke and my mental health went down the drain after the first two years really of doing night shift I just I couldn't do it anymore. Luckily I was in the position where I could switch today's without really a problem because the company that I was in did not really want females on the overnight crew they thought it was more of a man's job but I'mma tell you me and the two other girls that were on that shift we ran circles around the men lol it was fun while it lasted but being a mom with two kids on my own I just could not handle the night shift that's just me

a noise machine why not just get a fan lol

Forget Foley catheter....I so wanted a Foley for my 11 am pee. Also... try to work your three 12s in a row. This is better for your circadian rhythm. You can nap the day of your first night...then sleep and wake up at evening. Then half nap your first night off. Then you can go to bed at a normal time on your first day off. Did weekend nights for 20 years. Worked like a dream.

When you live far enough north that in winter it'll be dark when you start, and dark when you finish, take vitamin D supplements

I wear mack's soft earplugs. Took a couple weeks to get used to but now I can't sleep without them

Years ago, I worked a 3rd shift job. I would get off work at 7 a. Would go to bed and sleep till at 12p. My dad said i was sleeping too much. I then started to get up around 10a. THEN he was concerned I wasn't getting enough sleep! 🤦🏻‍♀️

One more important rule. Get your sleep early in your down period. Don't wait until 9 hours before you have to leave for work. Sleep early because we're ALL good at snoozing a couple more hours if we're still tired and have time to stay in bed.

I have better luck staying up during the day and sleeping in the evening. Getting up before you have to go in. If you work days you don’t go to sleep at 4 pm when you get home.