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.

cannot sleep- dont know why, I feel tired but when my head is on the pillow, im just wide awake!

Glad you made it Tiredemma.

I am pretty digusted by the registered nurse though - that is a sacking offence! She is apid to be there awake.

I cannot sleep on night shift - even onmy breaks because it makes me fees ill. If registered nurse was sleeping that makes me think she wasn't changing any incontinence pads. Nothing like team work!

Be careful of the Redbull BTW - that may be having an effect. I have a friend who is addicted to it. Powerful stuff.

She didnt realy bother me, just thought it was odd that such a fuss was made about not falling asleep, and she blatently made herself a makeshift bed and snoozed all night!
If anything- I now know what I wont be doing when im registered and working somewhere- passing work on for others to do!

Haven't read the thread, sorry, but just wanted to say that every time I see your MN name I start to feel tired myself! If you think of yourself as 'Tiredemma' surely you will feel more tired?? Good luck with the shifts - have done them in my time and hated them.

Unless it's pouring with rain or snowing, try to get outside for a minute or two on your breaks - or if that's not feasible because the place is all locked up, open a window and lean out - it's very refressing. Also, splashes of water on the face and on the pulse points of your wrists when feeling sleepy.
One tip someone once gave me, which I don't entirely recommend, is to read something really scary so you can't fall asleep, but that;s a bad idea if the place you work in is creepy or very isolated.
I used to do night shifts on a text service, all alone in a 3 floor building. Playing loud death metal and phoning XFM helped keep me awake