Few jobs are as demanding as night shift nurse. Although the duties are no different for nurses as night from what day workers have to do, the unusual hours present unique challenges.
Knowing how to handle this situation properly can ensure that you live a happier and healthier life, as well as perform better on the job.
The challenge of the night shift
Studies and statistics have shown that shift work isn’t good for the human body — especially night shifts. That’s because they upset the body’s natural circadian rhythm, which tells the body when it’s time to rest and recuperate.
Research suggests that people who work night shifts for 10 years or more often suffer from memory loss, cognitive deficits, and an array of other mental deficiencies. In addition, other studies have pointed to hourly shift work as a possible factor in heart attacks.
While short-term night shift work is unlikely to cause any permanent damage, these discoveries indicate that it’s vital to pay attention to how you handle unnatural work shifts.
Helpful tips for surviving the night shift
Obviously, working on the night shift shouldn’t be a long-term proposition. As a new nurse, however, you’ll likely be asked to handle a few night shifts each month.
How you tackle these assignments — before, during, and after — will dictate whether or not you succeed. Here are several tips to help youprepare for proper handling of night shifts:
Stay busy. Although night shifts can be slow, it’s useful to stay active, and find constructive tasks to perform, if you can. The last thing you need to do is doze off. This will further complicate your body’s circadian clock and will leave you feel groggy and disengaged, not to mention the potential danger to your job security.
Be wary of 4 a.m. Research suggests that for most night shift workers, fatigue and drowsiness peak at 4 a.m. With that in mind, you should avoid scheduling critical tasks at this time, and try to give yourself a boost with physical activity.
Use caffeine cautiously. While you may enjoy the initial kick that caffeine gives you, it’s best to use caution when it comes to depending on coffee, soda, and energy drinks. Caffeine often comes with negative side effects that leave you feeling jittery. It also stays in your system much longer than you might think and can keep you awake hours after your shift when you should be sleeping.
Keep your home dark. In your bedroom at home it’s a good idea to invest in blackout curtains. You need to keep your house as dark as possible during the day to avoid sending the wrong signals to your brain. Otherwise, your body will naturally respond to sunlight by waking up.
Don’t forget about exercise. You mustn’t neglect exercise just because you’re working a night shift. Many nurses like to go for a jog, do yoga, or lift weights a couple hours prior to starting a shift. While you may initially feel more tired, the exercise will invigorate your muscles and keep you engaged over the long run.
Get home safe. Did you know that almost 20 percent of all serious car-crash injuries are directly attributable to drowsy or sleep-deprived drivers? On your way home from a night shift, be sure to stay alert and keep aware of your surroundings. If you find it too difficult to drive home after a shift, catch a ride with a coworker or call a friend. It’s not worth risking your life just to get home.
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For most of us, time is a rare commodity. If you had an extra hour, what would you do? Let’s throw out the obvious: get an extra hour of sleep, play with the kids or clean the house, and here are some interesting ideas as the end of Daylight Saving Time this weekend provides that rare extra hour of time:
Write a love letter to your spouse or partner (when was the last time you did that?)
Catch up on that Netflix show you keep trying to see
Try a new recipe
Read a book
Get a massage
Write those thank-you notes you promised you’d get out
Google yourself and family members
Plan a perfect dinner party
Give yourself a makeover
Unplug the computer and TV, hide your cell phone and just enjoy the silence.
For Educators:
Use it to write longer, pithy comments as you grade papers due last week
Get an extra hour of push-ups and exercise to gird yourself for the rest of the school year
Shop for technology you’d like to have in your classroom (but probably won’t ever have the funds for)
Revise the lesson plan to satisfy unsatisfied parents and administrators
Learn how to do math problems the “Common Core” way
Fill a week’s worth of water bottles and prepare snacks to save time the rest of the week
Doing that self-evaluation you were supposed to do at the beginning of the school year
Fill out grant requests so you can afford to buy classroom materials
Rearrange the class seating chart to accommodate the three new students who are coming into your already crowded classroom
Look over the “new” testing criteria that will be instituted next semester
Looking up recipes you’d like to cook, if you had the time
Reacquaint yourself with the people you call family, but rarely see
Catch up on the charting that electronic record keeping promised would be “that much easier and faster”
Reorganize the work station so it is actually more functional
Go for a run or to the gym for the first good workout of the year
Talk with the patient in room 201 whose yet to have a visitor
Chart your goals and desires and the prescription to getting there
Design a patient gown that actually fits and works
Actually watch one of the shows or movies in your Netflix cue
Take that nap you promised yourself at the beginning of the year
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Lighting a fuse or sparkler is like holding a ticking time bomb; odds are someone, most likely a child, is going to be hurt. Every year nurses are called upon to try and heal the wounded from fireworks injuries.
Now there is a concerted effort to prevent the tragedy before it occurs. The Emergency Nurses Association (ENA) has joined the National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners, the National Association of School Nurses and other health organizations in an alliance with the National Fire Protection Association calling for an end to the use of personal fireworks. The goal, educate parents and caretakers before there are more injuries.
Here is why: the numbers are staggering, in 2011 fireworks caused an estimated 17,800 fires resulting in eight deaths, 40 injuries and $32 million in direct property damage. 2013 injury figures show U.S. hospital emergency rooms treated an estimated 11,400 people for fireworks related injuries. Children under the age of five experienced a higher estimated per capita injury rate than any other age group.
How many times have you, as a nurse, had to cradle a badly burnt six year old or counseled a parent about their youngster’s loss of a finger?
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission warns that even sparklers burn at nearly 2,000 degrees, hot enough to melt, wood, plastics and some metals and inflict terrible burns on mostly young people. Sixty percent of injuries and deaths from fireworks occur in the weeks just before and after the 4th of July. Most injuries are to the hands and fingers, head and face and the eyes caused mainly from firecrackers, bottle rockets and sparklers. The Emergency Nurses Association asserts the damage from fireworks can cause permanent scaring, both physically and mentally to children. “The extremities are essential for mobility; head injury is particularly critical: and burns can cause both pain and deformity. The message is very straightforward: fireworks are not safe to handle, watch them from a distance,” said the president of the ENA.
The National Fire Protection Association is so troubled by the carnage and damage from fireworks that they have created the Alliance to Stop Consumer Fireworks. They urge everyone to attend professional fireworks and never buy or use fireworks at home.
Realizing fireworks are still used by families; the Consumer Product Safety Commission has developed these essential safety tips:
Never allow young children to play with or ignite fireworks.
Avoid buying fireworks that are packaged in brown paper because this is often a sign that the fireworks were made for professional displays and that they could pose a danger to consumers.
Always have an adult supervise fireworks activities. Parents don’t realize that young children suffer injuries from sparklers. Sparklers burn at temperatures of about 2,000 degrees – hot enough to melt some metals.
Never place any part of your body directly over a fireworks device when lighting the fuse. Back up to a safe distance immediately after lighting fireworks.
Never try to re-light or pick up fireworks that have not ignited fully.
Never point or throw fireworks at another person.
Keep a bucket of water or a garden hose handy in case of fire or other mishap.
Light fireworks one at a time, then move back quickly.
Never carry fireworks in a pocket or shoot them off in metal or glass containers.
After fireworks complete their burning, douse the spent device with plenty of water from a bucket or hose before discarding it to prevent a trash fire.
Make sure fireworks are legal in your area before buying or using them.
Remember, while they may be pretty to watch, the damage from personal use of fireworks is more than just statistics or numbers on a page; they are real people – sons, daughters parents and grandparents – real flesh-and-blood victims. Think of them and the nurse who is waiting in the emergency room.
Although night shifts can be slow, it’s useful to stay active, and find constructive tasks to perform, if you can. The last thing you need to do is doze off. This will further complicate your body’s circadian clock and will leave you feel groggy and disengaged, not to mention the potential danger to your job security.
