Night shift problems

I am a nurse and I work night shift. I work for 12.5 hours plus most times.  I may only work 3 days a week but most of the time I work more than 3 days in a row. It is physical, sometimes back-breaking work a lot of the time and I do have back problems. My feet are usually sore and swollen after 3 days in a row and it really takes about 2 days just to recover. But one of the things that effects my health the most about it is working the night shift. It is very difficult to recover after night shift and then adjust to being a day person. Research has shown night shift alone to have detrimental effects on health; shortening life span, and increasing the risk for heart problems and cancer (https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/01/06/rotating-shift-work-health_n_6417644.html).

Some people think it must be difficult to stay up late at night. I never used to think I could do it but it's not that bad once you get used to it. On my first night of the week, if I've acclimated to a daytime schedule I make myself try to take a 2 hour nap in the afternoon. Even if I don't actually sleep, I lie down to rest and sometimes play rain sounds. I don't drink a lot of coffee but I try to drink water to keep myself awake. The hours between 3am and 5am are usually the hardest for me so I try to get up a walk when I start to feel sleepy and sometimes I even take a 15 catnap on our units quiet room.
Getting enough sleep is a struggle which you probably know if you've ever tried to get a full night's sleep in broad daylight. I wear a mask over my eyes to try to block out the light. I do have blackout curtains but I still haven't hung them yet. And sometimes it's hard to cut out all the daytime noises. People ring my doorbell or try to call or text me. I have to remember to put my phone on "do not disturb" but then I always worry about something happening that's an emergency and people won't be able to reach me. Sometimes I will take a Benadryl or melatonin to make sure I can get to sleep, but I try not to rely on medicine.

Because I get used to being up all night I become like a vampire. Direct sunlight right after I wake up at about 3 or 4pm is blindingly painful to look at. Then when my work days are over I have to try to completely re-program myself to being up during the day and sleeping at night. It is actually recommended that you don't switch completely back-and-forth from night s to days but have an adjusted schedule. I will actually stay up until 2 or 3 in the morning even on my days off. Sometimes I can use that time to get things done like house chores, paying bills or meal prep. But I've learned I can't do activities that might wake my kids like vacuuming.
The reality of it is never ideal though. I am a single mom with kids who come directly home after school so even though I'd like to sleep a couple more hours I have to get up. And 3pm is more like 5am to me. My kids gets home and I'm in a daze trying to help with homework. Then we run around to their activities and have dinner etc... When it's finally time to lay down and sleep I am wide awake. So then I stay up for a while and it is suddenly 2 or 3am. Oops! I gotta get up in 3 hours to get them off to school. Sigh.

Getting enough sleep is not the only problem from night shift. I also have problems eating right. Sleep deprivation makes you crave sugar and fat. Plus my body has difficulty adjusting to the new eating schedule too. First of all, besides the fact that we only get one meal break on a 12.5  shift, but nursing is such a busy job many times we don't get much time to eat at all. The first night I am usually not that hungry but as the week progresses I want to eat constantly while I'm awake. 

But for not this is the best schedule for my lifestyle. I am always available for my kids when they get home from school and they are still too young to stay at home alone. Also the pay is better and right now I couldn't afford the pay cut to move to day shift. So for now I will stay here and try to figure out better ways to compe with the constant adjustments my body has to make. I've found ways to adapt to this lifestyle and hopefully you've learned some of my tips. I also found a great list of tips at the following website: http://www.genesishealth.com/care-treatment/neuroscience/sleep/patient-resources/shift_workers/.

Enjoy!