Working my first night shift tonight, any tips on actually staying awake until 8am tomorrow?

[tiredemma]

start my first shift tonight, how can I ensure that I stay awake? Should I go and grab a few hours sleep now? ( im not tired though! thats the problem!!)

Any night shift survival tips gratfully appreciated.

Doing what?
It is easier to stay awake if active rather than sitting.

ooo - first few nights are always tricky.

What time will you be sleeping tomorrow when you get in from work??? How long will you get, and when is your next shift?

I finish at 8am, will be back home by 0815, intend to copme home and go straight to bed after I have had some brekkie- is that a good thing? Or should I just stay awake and go to sleep in the afternoon?

Its a 12 hr waking shift, so no napping at all through the night.
Next shift is tuesday.

After nights I usually have some toast andd go straight to bed. Afer years of shifts I can sleep anytime, anywhere.
Take some red bull to keep you going!

it depends really - I had to sleep when I got in from work (well until DS2 decided he wasn't going to nap in the afternoons so there was no point in me trying to sleep for 2/3hrs LOL) and usually got from 8(ish) until 3pm.

DEFINITELY eat something when you get in I found no matter whether I was awake for 36hrs or 18hrs on the trot if I didn't eat before I slept I did't sleep well.

What type of work is it?

Try not to sleep too long during the day tomorrow seen as though you're next shift is Tuesday night - otherwise you won't be tired enought to sleep on Saturday night and it'll mess you up.

Although having said that everyone is different and it's often just a case of 'going with the flow' and seeing what your body (and your home schedule - ie kids, OH etc etc) allows.

For staying awake I'd recommend a lot of the old cliche's - coffee, redbull, if you're not the type to fall asleep reading/doing puzzles take on along (if it's the sort of job that does allow you 'breaks' of that type).

If you feel yourself getting really tired move about - even if there's nothing to do much to easy to fall alseep when you're sat down.

How many people will you be working with??

in a nursing home, I know I will be kept busy as I am on the dementia unit.

well don't be too certain of that - although the home I work(ed) at was a care home and not nursing most of our residents had dementia.........and the only residents that kept us really busy were the non-dementia ones (and even then it was only 2 or 3 of them that buzzed during the night).

3 other staff.

Fortunatly due to a non-sleeping child, I can manage on about three hours sleep, just worried about not actually having those three hours tonight! Im going to be like a corpse by 8am!

oh that's not too bad - as if it does get quiet (and even when it isn't) you'll soon find plenty to talk about .

Even if you feel you can't sleep ATM try just sitting down putting your feet up/lying on the sofa watching the kids wreck the house.

When DS2 stopped his naps I was already pg and although I didn't sleep in the mornings after work I'd lie on the sofa under a blanket and just rest - on the days I didn't do that and just kept going I definitely felt 'worse' for it.

just had a nap for 1 1/2hrs, have got a can of red bull and a pro plus- just in case I start wavering!!

try and take it easy before you leave for work tonight - those first nights are tough but then if you've got a nonsleeping child you may find it a bit easier (I didn't find it too bad as I generally only have - when not pg) about 6-7hrs sleep a night anyhow and usually didn't go to bed until 1-2am.

I hated night shifts. The worst time, I found was between 2am and 5am. it wasn't so bad in the summer when the hours of darkenss were considerably shorter. I too did nights in a dementia unit and we were kept reasonable busy,turning and tolieting and changing beds - mind you it's 9 years since I did a night shift.
I used to nip to the loos and splash my face with cold water if i found myself getting really sleepy.

A friend of mine was telling how she copes and she said you do get used to it, but she's very careful about what she eats, because you can almost trick your body clock which is partly guided by food. So don't eat a big evening meal before a night shift. And she says she eats lots of porridge through the night because it keeps her going. Then when she gets home, makes sure she's not hungry then goes to bed as soon as possible, so she doesn't wake up hungry later.

Talking of the weight thing - I lost over 2 stone in a year - purely by working nights - I still ate cr*p but my body lost the weight

ask if you can take all your breaks together (say, if you get 3 half hr breaks instead take a hour and half) and sleep

also, dont eat shite, no crisps or sweets, and drink loads. if you are struggling go for a walk around the rooms, tidy the store cupboard, anything

have breakfast when you get in and straigh to bed

take a jumper as you will get cold frombeing tired

take a magazine

caffeine tabs work (pro plus)

i have this wierd habit of waking at 11am EVERY morning for a wee - it drives me bonkers

good luck

i acutally LOVE nightshift - you get used to it

not allowed to sleep np- get dismissed on the spot if we are caught napping!!

have got pro plus and red bull!

the rules about sleeping are normal - but eveyrwhere i have worked they nap on their breaks. you dont get paid for breaks after all!

but sometimes napping can make uou more tired tbh

do they have kitchen facilities? can you take something nutritious lke soup and heat it up?

"not allowed to sleep np- get dismissed on the spot if we are caught napping!!"

That's what they said at our work - but if they'd have sacked on of us - we've have grassed up the others and there would only have been ONE night staff member left - even the Nigh Supervisor liked her catnaps .

We just made sure that one of us was awake at all times (only 2 of us on) and we only napped in the lounge - RIGHT next to the buzzer system which even when you're totally knackered was still loud enough to wake you up if needed.

np - that was the only good thing about my job - we didn't have 'set' breaks (indeed some nights were exceptionally busy and we didn't really get any) - but we got paid for the entire time we were there

yep, it has a kitchen, facilities are really good actually. Its a bupa home, really nice. Im looking forward to it actually!

wow fannie! obviously not nhs then...

ive worked in bupa before and we napped

you had a pager - if your pt buzzed you got woken but they rarely did. you got paged when your break was up !

oh no - private - but unforunately the good pay structure (in terms of being paid for training/staff meetings/breaks - NOT in terms of salary - that was crp - same rate as the day staff - £5.70 an hour....) was outweighed by crp management who had their favourites and couldn't give a flying monkey's about the rest of us.....

UGH.

Feel like crap but cannot sleep, night went OK- was kept busy all night and I had to crack open my Redbull at 2am- that gave me a kick until around 6am. The last hour just dragged.

It was good- it really pisses me off though that the tasks we were undertaking are only worthy of minimum wage ( no extra allowance for night staff)- its a disgrace, clearly its through love of care work- not a desire to be a milionaire that I chose this job. Its such hard work for a pittance. I can home and told dp all about my night and he gave me a huge hug and said how proud he was ( I was telling him about the copious amounts of incontinence pads changed through the night)
he said he could never do that job- not for even 100k a year.

As for sleeping- well the registered nurse, after her drug round at 10 oclock- got two armchairs, shoved them together and snoozed her way through till 4am!

I really enjoyed it, the residents are fantastic- challenging but fantastic.

so far so good!

Well done you! You are brilliant and deserve a nap!