The public need for healthcare doesn’t disappear outside the business hours of 9 am – 5 pm. The typical shift for a night shift nurse begins around 7 pm or 8 pm and runs until 7 am. There are significant advantages for these nurses. Tricia Hunter, RN, said in Scrubs Magazine that she feels she gets to put more focus on patient care. “There’s more time to focus care on the patient’s needs instead of the needs of extended family members, who are often at home sleeping during the night shift,” she wrote in 2019. However, working the night shift as a nurse brings unique challenges. Learning how to adapt to a different sleep schedule is one of the hardest obstacles that a night shift nurse must overcome. Make sure that you have the support and self-care techniques to handle night shift nursing. Follow these tips to keep yourself thriving and healthy while working the night shift:
Schedule Your Sleep
According to the National Sleep Foundation (NSF), night shift nurses should keep the same bedtime and waketime schedule (even on weekends). Take
measures to make your environment conducive for deep sleep.
Consider these tools to help you make sleep a priority:
- Blackout curtains in your bedroom to sleep while the sun is up
- A sleep mask to further block light and other distractions
- Noise-canceling headphones
- Melatonin at a low dose to help your body adjust to a different sleep routine
Get Active to Stay Alert
Regular exercise will help support your routine and keep you healthy. It will also help you fall asleep during your odd scheduled hours. Robert Thayer, Ph.D. conducted a study that proved 10 minutes of brisk physical activity will make you feel more alert than a sugar rush. Being fit and motivated will increase your blood circulation and help give you energy during long hours, which is vital for night shift nurses.
Create a Balanced Diet
Eating healthy is important for everyone, but especially for night shift workers. Choosing a nutritious snack over an unhealthy option will help give you sustainable energy. While your “comfort food” might be tempting, foods high in refined sugars and unhealthy fats are likely to cause an energy crash later. In addition to eating well, make sure to stay hydrated. Maintaining a healthy diet will help your overall well-being. Proper nutrition is the number one way to stay energized!
Maintain Relationships
It is very common for night nurses to feel left out or isolated from friends due to inconvenient schedules. It’s important to socialize with loved ones, especially on your days off. Your social life is another extremely important element to an overall healthy lifestyle. The life of a nurse can get extremely busy- put effort towards sending texts or leaving notes for your loved ones at home.
A nurse’s life is difficult enough, even without having to balance daily life with long, overnight hours. By taking advantage of these tips, our valued healthcare workers can reach peak performance on the job. Night shift nurses must make an extra effort to ensure they get adequate rest, nutrition, and exercise to avoid burnout or illness. Making these adjustments may be tough but are a long-term investment in a balanced lifestyle.
What Hippo Lending Can Do To Help
As a nurse, you work hard to help those in need. When you’re working to help your patients, the last thing you want to worry about is your finances. That’s where Hippo comes in. Hippo offers to finance designed for Healthcare professionals and helps ease some of the everyday stresses nurses deal with. We understand the challenges of working in the healthcare industry and use a value-based business model to evaluate each individual applicant based not just on a credit score but their work ethic, values, and potential. We’ve helped thousands of nurses and doctors achieve their financial goals.
