Night Work

[scottw]

Do you sleep as soon as you get home or do you do stuff and then sleep and then get up for work?

[Joe549]

I've been working shift work for 5 years now and still have a ***** of a time trying to adjust to nights. I usually go to bed a couple hours after getting home but usually wind up waking every hour or 2 thinking I'm late for work.... Some people have no problems working night shifts and actually prefer it. Personally I hate it.

[BDiggity]

everyone i know that worked/s nights did their stuff & then go to sleep. Just like a normal day shift basically.

[MacGyver]

I've been working nights for the last seven weeks. Totally hate it. I get home, relax a bit and usually am in bed in an hour or two. But I have a hell of a time sleeping during the day, always waking up. Readjusting to the weekends is the worst for me. Four more weeks and I'm back to regular days again.

[Sydwayz]

When I worked mid-shift years ago in the Pentagon, I went to bed as soon as I got home in the morning. As the base/building/dorm got a bit louder in the afternoon, it was a natural alarm to wake up.

[Expensive Date]

When I did midnights I would always go to sleep when I got home. Not sure thats the best way but thats how I did it.

[scottw]

Fortunately I only have to do two nights, but I have to get back to days this week. Gonna work 8pm-8am tonight and 8pm-8am tomorrow to get my three 8hr. days in. Then I won't have to be to work until thursday at 7am. Sucks that the long days won't amount to any OT though.

[03darkshadow]

when i did nights i would work 11pm till 7:30 am, get home at 8, fall asleep and wake up at about 9:30 or 10pm. haha. i hated night shift.

[phragle]

I worked 8p to 8am for several years. I would get home, unwind for an hour or two, then sleep. Black out curtains are a neccessity. If you don't have them get them.

I did notice that I needed much less sleep working nights, usually only 4~5 hours.

keep the night schedule on your days off, it's pretty much impossible to bounce back and forth.

I have never been the same since, and I have a really hard time falling asleep at nite and I feel much more energetic and awake at 3 am then 3 in the afternoon...

[jmoore32fever]

Been on 2nds for almost 2 years now... It's actually 4pm till whenever I'm finished loading the next days shipments, pretty often till 3 or 4am. Nights till 3 or 4am straight to bed most the time.... Nights when I get off in 8 or 9hrs I usually try to make it to bed by 3, I too have a hard time just sleeping through the rest of the night till 9 or 10 or so.... Like phragle said I have more energy @ 2 or 3am than I do in the afternoon... Key I have found is you have to make yourself get up relatively early, by early I mean no more than like 6hrs of sleep,& just find something to do

[Perlmudder]

Well, if by "night work" you mean partying till 6am, then yes, at that point I am usually either drunk enough or sobering up enough to pass right out. Black out curtains are a must as phragle has said! =) Generally, if I can make it till sun up, 4-5 hours of sleep and I am good to go for the day!

[Pat Bates]

I've worked 2nd shift for 10 years now in the shipping biz. Also have 2 daughters, so I get home around 1am, stay up til 2, then get up at 6:30 and get the girls ready for school and drop them off. My wife works an early morning shift at our VA Hospital.

I've gotten accustomed to 4 or 5 hours of sleep during the week. I sleep in a little on the weekends.

[rippem]

I believe he's asking about Nights as in OVERNIGHTS as in staying awake all night and being 180* out from the rest of the world and contrary to what your body wants...

It ain't easy!

I've been working 12 hour nights 7p to 7a for 11 years now (ER/Radiology).

I CANNOT stay up in the morning, it just doesn't work for me, never has. I feel absolutely HORRIBLE, worst of the day by 8:30-9a. I have to be in bed and asleep by then.
Blackout and AC or fan white noise is a big plus.
I've actually sealed all my windows behind shades and curtians with 2 layers of black poly, combined with heavy AC in the summer...I call my room "the refrigerator with the door closed"

as far as crashing first in the am...It's much easier for me to know I have some rest "in the bag" and get up in the afternoon (even early) to do what I need to, if I need to.
In my line of work there is nothing worse than being COMPLETELY drained and having a handful of critical things going on and critical thinking and energy required of you out of nowhere at 3am.
I need to know I've gotten some rest. It makes me more confident that I will be able to rise to ANY occasion in this crazy responsibility laden environment.

Obviously summer is much more motivating to take in some of the day between shifts, or after the third one, be up by 11a and headed for the water!

the best sleep of the week is the morning after my 3rd night in a row when I can relax more in the morning as I crash because I know I don't have to go back that night...and it's raining... so I don't feel the pressure so much of having to make much of the day ...
that's about as sweet as it gets!
I call those "wasting days" I just veg, sometimes no shower stumble around the house and don't do much other than make a meal...and try to catch up on (relatively speaking) "better" sleep.

I'm getting burnout now as I sleep like chit during the day anymore...like 3-4 two hour restless naps... sucks. I rarely get any sound, truly restful sleep during the day and when I do I'm so happy about it 'cause it's rare.

In the early years I used to come home and be asleep often by 7:45 and other than a mid-day piss, sleep soundly on either side right up till 4-5 pm between shifts.

I do turn around pretty good still in terms of being a day person the other half of the week...
but the last few years of restless day sleep and getting older (46) have put a real hurting on my ability to get good sleep ANYTIME.

night workers get no respect from those that don't know the life. Don't know what it's like to spend half the week (or more) feeling like you've been hit by a bus. Really. sometimes you just feel like real pile physically...it's that bad.

The bad metabolism and overall bad health affects that have been recently scientifically/study proven to shorten life span and have higher incidence of everything from heart disease to cancer...

The upside is not having to put up with daytime BS of all sorts from PC to lazy co-workers to "suits" up your azz.
We call them "hands-offs".
The majority of most hospital management have rarely, if not a long time ago, or often never touched a patient
they have no f'king clue what I do or what it's about "on the tile"
That's the one ironic thing I can't stand about this business, and it's just less in my face, easier to forget it's that way, working overnights when they are all in bed and be pulling out as they are pulling in to play thier part in the day-circus circle-jerk.
There are times I don't see my boss or even exchange phone or email with him for 60-90 days.
That to me is HUGE!

yup, I worked days prior to my night gig...
I'm trading health for sanity

[rippem]

and yea,
might recognize my screenname from another site since '02
I recognize many of you.

I like this place much better!

[phragle]

Rippem, welcome to Serious.. I really relate to your post, turning 47 in a couple weeks and I am in nursing school.. undoubtedly when I finish this fall I will end up working nights again. Right now with school its insane. with work and the study load I frequently have to pull all nighters and have class the next day. I worked nights for years as a medic and it is a completely different vibe at night. I have such chronic sleep deprivation I am constantly a worn out sleepy zombie. Do you enjoy nights as opposed to days? after 11 years you should have the seniority to catch the first open day slot....

[rippem]

been here 16 years and a slight majority of the staff is junior to me.

I've passed up bidding on day positions a half a dozen times.

Most of them have been 8's and I just don't know if I can ever do the 5 day a week thing again...
which in the hospital business is often 7 days straight as scheduling goes

I mean when handled well, I really do have 4 days a week off...
Thats tough to beat against the income.

with my seniority and lucrative paid vacation accumulation I managed to work 2 nights a week mem day to labor day last summer, but all the stars were alignment in terms of other staffing...

But I will say I work alot of OT 'cause it pays well, though I'm getting myself into a position to be very comfortable without it...

I've only passed on a day 12 once. There are only five 12 hour jobs in our radiology dept, the other 30 positions are 8's

reasons I'm still on nights
afformentioned 12's
an extra couple bucks an hour
NO boss- I am the supervisor
the loose atmosphere

nights are where you'll find the rebels and loners, those who can think on their feet and multi-task, do more with less, and all without supervision for the most part if at all
I like and identify with that crowd!

I've seen my adult sister and GF's through nursing school with full time jobs and often kids too
talk about a tough road to hoe for two years...

hats off to you man!

[phragle]

2:40 am and only another half hour of homework.........

[phragle]

3:30, just finished last paper..have to be up at 7...

[rippem]

my 5th 12 hour night ina row last night ended up being 14 hours long...!

short on sleep
back for another one
good damn thing this pays so well...

I'm just in the zone now.
I bit the face off some new clerk on one of the floors last night...
but had the senior nurses who know me well diffuse her before she reached for paper
hope nobody's stupid tonight
I'm a little "fragile"

How was your day honey?

[MacGyver]

Try this. We have a crew at a Walmart remodel near Racine, WI. On Monday they worked from 5AM until 7PM. Took an hour supper break. Went back in at 8PM and worked until 4:30AM Tuesday morning. Thats basically a 22.5 hour shift