Trouble Sleeping Try Working All Night Long

Recently because of injury I was placed on the midnight shift at work. For those of you who do not know I am a nurse and love to work my dayshift. Since being on midnights many things are different but one of the issues is sleep. When you work hours that many sleep and must sleep when others are awake there are many issues that can come up.

Night shift work can be hard on your personal life and difficult on your health as well. It must be said that one must get at least 6 hours of sleep during the day and be as health conscious as possible. Healthy meals and snacks should be on the menu and caffeine must be limited as we all know what issues caffeine can cause. Exercise is something that should be implemented in ones schedule as well. One of the best things working on the midnight shift is the extra time to spend with those individuals we have relationships with. If we can get the sleep and health issues down pat then we will have the energy as well.

If you have ever worked midnocs then you know that one of the worst things is fighting the sleep battle. Halfway through the shift, but then the when the shift is over it seems as if the world is up and going. We want to spend quality time with our families and at times it is hard to choose whether sleep or time with family is more important.

Many times, I have taken the kids to school, spent some time with hubby after working the late night shift before getting any rest. I can tell you that while the children are at school I can sleep a bit deeper like I do at night. However, if the house is loud I sleep a bit lighter.


Some tips to help those on third shift some sleep:

• keep a sleep ritual that includes going to sleep directly after work. Don't do chores, errands, or scheduling. These task can be done later after you sleep when you can put your full attention on the jobs at hand. 
• Sunlight helps your body to perk up and makes sleep difficult. The room you sleep in should be dark as possible and spend no more time than needed outside in sun before coming in the house to sleep
• ear plugs make a good investment. The pone should be on silence and you should ask family members to be quiet while you sleep
• Sleep aids are not always good. While they are a temporary solution they may not be able to take care of long term problem. Sleeping pills do not help your body to adjust 
• Caffeine may be a great tool helping you threw the shift but is an enemy to sleep. 

Extra tip
eat snacks and drink water on the shift so that you do not get dehydrated. Dehydration will leave you feeling drained and lethargic. Healthy snacks will help keep blood sugar from dipping and maintain energy.

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