{"id":101,"date":"2013-01-01T14:37:38","date_gmt":"2013-01-01T14:37:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/ebn\/?p=101"},"modified":"2013-02-27T13:47:43","modified_gmt":"2013-02-27T13:47:43","slug":"memories-of-night-shifts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/ebn\/2013\/01\/01\/memories-of-night-shifts\/","title":{"rendered":"Memories of Night Shifts"},"content":{"rendered":"

Welcome to 2013!\u00a0 I had a wonderful New Years Eve that ended with me snuggling into my warm, cozy bed just after midnight.\u00a0 As I drifted off to sleep I was reminded of all the years I worked shift work and thought of the nurses and other staff who had to work while I settled to sleep.\u00a0 I discovered long ago that it is a privilege to sleep when you are tired and truly relish the opportunity to do so.\u00a0 Even though I regularly worked 12-hour nightshifts alternating with days for over a decade, I never really adjusted to the constant assault on my circadian rhythms.\u00a0 In fact, the continuous exhaustion I felt affected my health and home life and was one of the strongest reasons that I searched out a day job in nursing.<\/p>\n

Sleep is an interesting and complicated phenomenon that is not completely understood.\u00a0 Sleep is a basic necessity of life. Our bodies are programmed to have periods of sleepiness and wakefulness; our circadian rhythms.\u00a0 Our internal clocks push for alertness during the day, which leaves us struggling to stay awake at night as well as difficulty getting restful and restorative sleep the next day.\u00a0 Those who don\u2019t work shift work usually don\u2019t understand.\u00a0 Take, for example, my mother-in-law, who at one point insisted on waking me up at 11 am after a 12 hour night shift, explaining to me that I\u2019d had enough sleep.<\/p>\n

Studies suggest that shift work is associated with increased risk of developing cancer, cardiovascular and gastrointestinal disease. Effects of sleep disturbance range from headaches, increased or decreased appetite, gastrointestinal problems, irritability or mild depression. \u00a0There is a sleep diagnosis called Shift Work Sleep Disorder.\u00a0 It is characterized by insomnia and excessive sleepiness, unintended dozing, impaired mental acuity, reduced performance and accident proneness.\u00a0 These are not the sort of characteristics patients want in the nurses who care for them!\u00a0 It\u2019s no wonder that nurses have difficulty searching for and implementing new evidence in practice.<\/p>\n

Some people work a continuous night shift rotation and their bodies adjust to the change.\u00a0 However, most nurses work the most difficult schedule, a rotation of days and nights.\u00a0 There are plenty of good tips about sleeping that may help you adjust more easily to shift work.\u00a0 A quick search of the internet will point you in the right direction, however, I\u2019d like to point out a couple of things.\u00a0 In the past few years,\u00a0 attention has been focused on a hormone produced by the pineal gland of the brain, called melatonin, that is involved in sleep rhythms.\u00a0 However, there has been no evidence to show that it will fix sleep disorders http:\/\/on.webmd.com\/WieUN8<\/a>. We all know the nurses who love working night shift.\u00a0 They easily adjust to the time change and prefer the pace and \u2018culture\u2019 of the wee hours.\u00a0 However, many more are like me\u2026nurses who just cannot adjust to the constant back and forth.\u00a0 In retrospect, it may have helped my situation if I had chatted with my supervisor and looked for solutions such as working only dayshifts or nightshifts.\u00a0 If you\u2019re struggling, think about searching out a position with a work schedule that you think might work better for you.<\/p>\n

There are some special things about caring for people during the night.\u00a0 Conversations are often more meaningful and patients learn a great deal about the constancy of nursing in health care settings.\u00a0 The night shifts can also strengthen bonds among staff.\u00a0 There are many things that I miss from those busy, crazy shift work years!\u00a0 Yet, it\u2019s unfortunate that nights can have negative effects on nursing and nurses\u2019 lives.\u00a0 As a profession, and individually we should lobby to ensure the best possible work environment for ourselves.\u00a0 Our goal should be a healthy and well-rested nursing workforce.<\/p>\n

All the best in the New Year!<\/p>\n

Roberta Heale<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Welcome to 2013!\u00a0 I had a wonderful New Years Eve that ended with me snuggling into my warm, cozy bed just after midnight.\u00a0 As I drifted off to sleep I was reminded of all the years I worked shift work and thought of the nurses and other staff who had to work while I settled […]<\/p>\n

Read More…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":169,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-101","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nMemories of Night Shifts - Evidence-Based Nursing blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/ebn\/2013\/01\/01\/memories-of-night-shifts\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Memories of Night Shifts - Evidence-Based Nursing blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Welcome to 2013!\u00a0 I had a wonderful New Years Eve that ended with me snuggling into my warm, cozy bed just after midnight.\u00a0 As I drifted off to sleep I was reminded of all the years I worked shift work and thought of the nurses and other staff who had to work while I settled [...]Read More...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/ebn\/2013\/01\/01\/memories-of-night-shifts\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Evidence-Based Nursing blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-01-01T14:37:38+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2013-02-27T13:47:43+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"rheale\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"rheale\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/ebn\\\/2013\\\/01\\\/01\\\/memories-of-night-shifts\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/ebn\\\/2013\\\/01\\\/01\\\/memories-of-night-shifts\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"rheale\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/ebn\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/4d6c0669182b39dd438efb3fe94d7f64\"},\"headline\":\"Memories of Night Shifts\",\"datePublished\":\"2013-01-01T14:37:38+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2013-02-27T13:47:43+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/ebn\\\/2013\\\/01\\\/01\\\/memories-of-night-shifts\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":652,\"commentCount\":1,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/ebn\\\/#organization\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/ebn\\\/2013\\\/01\\\/01\\\/memories-of-night-shifts\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/ebn\\\/2013\\\/01\\\/01\\\/memories-of-night-shifts\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/ebn\\\/2013\\\/01\\\/01\\\/memories-of-night-shifts\\\/\",\"name\":\"Memories of Night Shifts - 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