Night shift workers....Top Tips Please!

[ThatGirlInACountrySong]

I have my first night shift tonight. 9pm til 8am

Facilities wise i think it's just a kettle we have access to!

Any ideas what I can take for snacks, best ideas for staying awake? I'm a coffee drinker, is it best to wait to drink it later in shift?

I'll try to nap later today but I'm a bit worried about being so knackered

Top tips appreciated!

I’m supposed to be napping for tonight but instead I’m browsing MN!

I work 7-7 and have two half hour breaks. I normally eat my dinner before I go in, something light like a baked potato. On my first break I’ll have a yoghurt/banana and a cup of tea and a biscuit. Second break I normally have a scone or cereal.

I have never managed to get in the way of turning my nights into days so can’t really eat my main meal at work.

sometimes I take a pasta dish, soup or baked potato. You should have access to a microwave?

I don’t drink coffee but I’d probably not have any after 4 am if you want to sleep tomorrow. Are you doing two nights? If so you need to get some sleep tomorrow when you get home.

Good Luck!

Thankyou!

I'm not a big eater at work anyway. Not sure about microwave as It's a new job I've only been at for 3 weeks.

I have 2 night shifts ( shadowing)

Then we have a set of 7 night shifts every couple of months! 7!

Scone is a good idea. Everyone seems to live on energy drinks,but I never get on with them

My advice would be do not drink energy drinks if you have more than one night, you can't sleep as well the next day. I eat around 11.30 and then don't eat again till I get up for next shift,seems to help with the bloating. Coffee lots of and walk around when you feel that weird sicky sleepy feeling around 4.30, just be aware everyone feels it and it passes after about half an hour.

Try and have a good nap or at least lie in the dark and quiet for a couple of hours late afternoon then get up and have a meal. Coffee I tend to stop having around 1-2am so I can sleep when I get home. Plenty of water!
I tend to not fancy meals as such when on nights but have plenty snacky things available - fruit, yoghurts, cereal, cup a soup if no microwave
When you hit the 4am slump on your first night, keep active or have a little wander if you can and a big drink of water, I'd definitely try and avoid caffeine that late on in the shift if you can
Then when you get home, I always sit down with something else to eat, watch tv a bit, walk the dog, shower or whatever before going to bed. Try and do as you would when you get home after a day shift, it helps with the routine. I've always done 5 nights every 3 weeks and by the second/third you'll be fine I'm sure. Enjoy!

Thanks for the insight!

I'll be walking around a fair bit I'm sure as it won't be quiet shifts with nothing to do so I'll take advice and lay off the coffee halfway through

I'm off to Aldi later so will stock up on some snacks

I take coffee and moams to keep me going.
We often get an hours break on night and we are allowed to nap on break but I never can, I tend to doze.

I tend to stay busy. I'm a neonatal nurse so it's dark and quiet on nights so the babies can sleep. I stock up and tidy between care to stay busy. Walking around helps.
Do not read a book 😴
Mumsnetting and watching something on the phone helps on the rare occasion that it's not busy.

Unfortunately we are forbidden to take in phones both day and night ( mens prison)

And I have no computer logins yet or I could do some of my online training. Not sure what everyone does during their break, if they sleep/doze etc

I will wear glasses not contact lens I think.

I do 7pm til 7.30am 5 x in 4 week roster. Have done for 20+ years. My routine is get up as normal. Do gym/walk/chores whatever in morning. Then big lunch and go sleep in afternoon. Have breakfast about 5pm and start work at 7pm with a proper coffee. Work hard/keep really busy til midnight with a break to have dinner at 10 pm. Slow down from midnight. Tea and snack 2am. Keep busy but not crazy til 5am. Have breakfast then work hard/keep really busy til 7am. Good luck

Oh and lots over water post 2am.. even electrolyte drinks.

Where I work we have food like sandwiches, which we can have as well as residents. I have a meal before work, so not snacking as much. I work in dementia and no 2 nights are the same, always something to do.

I really should be sleeping, did a night shift last night and have another tonight. The worst time is between 3 and 4, is when I start to lag. I normally find something to do, to keep me awake.

@ThatGirlInACountrySong ooh no don't do E-learning, it's worse than reading for inducing sleep!

I've been led to believe prison life at night is constant so will be kept busy think! I'll look out for the 3-4 slump

I'll not do any E-Learning then!

You l seem to know what works well for you so I'm hoping I can embrace these shifts and not start to dread them

I think you figure it out as you go. For me it was coffee with a spoon of hot chocolate powder in, around 4.30 or 5am. But once I had a bit more control of my rota I only used to do one night, never two or more in a row. I could manage that better.

Good luck. The feeling of getting home and getting into your own bed after a night shift and falling asleep is the most amazing feeling in the world. It made me feel euphoric with exhaustion and relief. I don't do night shifts any more (I do sleeping on calls instead) but I almost would for that feeling again... Almost 😁

When I'm going night to night I'll go straight to bed when I get in and sleep until I naturally wake up. Blackout blinds are your friend! I'll have dinner as normal before I go to work and have another lighter dinner halfway through my shift. Won't eat when I get in because it makes me up.

When I go from a night to a day off I give myself 4 hours sleep then get up and power through til a normal bedtime.

Nights in prison could go either way. Noisy, drunk / drugged men with loud music blaring and arguments or a night where they shut up and sleep.

Keep an ear out for mobile phone use in cells. Use the time to submit IRs on Mercury or ask others to submit them on your behalf.

You'll surely get your meal breaks in the wee hours like you do by day during lock up.

You'll get the usual demands for attention, loo roll, HC etc. Same as by day.

Why on earth are you operational without access to NOMIS?

I'm still shadowing. Not operational on detail.
Yet.

They messed up and are fixing it hopefully today! Bit of confusion somewhere along the line.

It's the 7 in a row I'm worried about but if I can nail the 2 shadow shifts I will be less stressed. Some good advice on this thread and I'll try it all out as I go. Thankyou!

I’m starting nights again at the weekend, 8-8, half an hour break.
I used to do them a few years ago as well.
I have a nap in the afternoon before my first shift, dinner as normal and take a salad with me with a decent amount of protein in it, tuna, eggs, cooked chicken etc to eat around 2am so keep me going through the 2-4am slump. Otherwise I just want to eat aaaallllll the carbs.
good luck! Oh, I have a blackout eye mask for day time sleeping which is brilliant, sweat by it!

I get up at usual time, do usual stuff in the morning, housework etc then I have a cooked meal at lunchtime, something stodgy like pasta is good!
then go to bed with an audio book to help me sleep.
i get up around 4.30, have a shower etc and make my pack up for work which is usually a sandwich, crisps, fruit, a small chocolate bar or similar and a big bottle of squash.
I drink plenty of squash through the night & probably just 1 or 2 coffees all shift.
4am is often the hardest time to stay awake if it’s a quiet shift ( rare) in which case I’ll have a walk around and a chat with my colleagues.
good luck!

My exH was a police officer and preferred doing the 7-7-7 shift system to the 2-2-2 ones they changed to. He said it was much easier to deal with 7 nights in a row less often than 2 in a row every 10 days or so. I think he used to sleep as soon as he came in but some of his colleagues stayed up, went to the gym, ate a full meal etc then went to bed after 4 or 5 hours, just like you would on a day shift.

I've stocked up on fruit, water, snacks. Few sweets and will make a sandwich

Losing weight so will play havoc with weight loss. 4 stone gone, 1-2 to go

Off for a nap! Thanks all

Cup a soups,nuts to nibble,a sandwich/salad,there will probably be a microwave some where.
I always have a bacon and egg sarnie at 6 .30ish so I have the energy for the drive home.
I used to go to bed at 11 am before children but straight away after as they get less better at being quiet as the day goes on.

Hope it went ok!

Yes! Thanks for all the tips, it went well

Wasn't prepared for feeling as cold as I did, I'm usually hot all the time. But it's a very old building so should have realised

Felt tired around 5, but I was told it was a very quiet night even though I was shadowing on the busiest wing

It gets easier OP, I prefer a night now to a late as I find they waste the whole day. I'm quite good at turning day into night now!

My tip tip is those breakfast milkshakes. I find a breakfast can be too heavy but if I don't eat I wake up hungry. The milkshakes prevent this.

I also go to bed immediately I get in if I'm tired, rather than force myself to do worthy things like laundry beforehand. I'm also quite militant about not doing anything too taxing when I'm on nights. DH can't get to grips with why I can't just go out for lunch or whatever (as he would go out for dinner on a work night) but I find it ruins my sleep pattern so just don't do it now.

After nights I try and sleep till about midday, but I'm awful at getting up so plan things like a haircut, grocery delivery etc to force me out of bed. DDog1 has the groomers this Friday for that express purpose!