This article was provided by Gifted Healthcare.

Are you a travel nurse that’s about to begin working the night shift? If so, it’s important to develop a strategy to stay on top of your game while the rest of the world is asleep.

We’ve created a list of tips to help you stay healthy and focused on the night shift. By using these tips, you’ll be focused, driven, and excelling on the night shift in no time!

Tips for working the night shift

Develop a Consistent Sleep Schedule

Being well-rested is the most important part of staying healthy and on your game on the night shift.

While it can be difficult for shift workers to maintain a stable sleeping schedule, try to be as consistent as possible. This will make falling asleep and waking up much easier, and reduce your chance of crashing while you’re awake.

Limit your use of electronics before bed and invest in blackout curtains to darken your room during the daytime.

Remaining open-minded about your new schedule will help you develop a routine that works. Once you’ve figured out which sleeping schedule works best for you, stick to it. Sleeping at irregular intervals will lead you to poor health, stress, and on-the-job-mistakes.

Only Use Your Bedroom for Sleeping

Do you use your bedroom for activities other than sleeping? If you’re someone that has trouble falling or staying asleep, you might need to find a new room for working, watching television, or using your laptop.

By using your bedroom exclusively for sleeping, you strengthen your brain’s association between “bedroom” and “sleep.” If you find yourself lying awake and struggling to fall asleep, try moving to another room and doing something else until you feel tired enough to try again.

Work Your Night Shifts Consecutively

If you can, try to schedule your night shifts consecutively. This will help you maintain a stable eating and sleeping routine, which will keep your energy levels high.

Working consecutive night shifts will also allow you to enjoy your days off, rather than spend them catching up on sleep.

Stay Hydrated

Due to the nature of the job, it can be difficult for healthcare professionals to stay hydrated. But drinking water is essential for maintaining your physical and mental health.

Bring a refillable water bottle with you and drink steadily throughout your shift — once you’re thirsty, a headache may be on the way.

Focus On Your Patients

While nighttime might be a quieter time in many hospital units, some patients require more care or assistance at night. With fewer visitors and distractions, take advantage of the quiet time to focus on your patients.

Paying more attention to detail and providing an extra level of care for your patients overnight is a great way to stay focused and show initiative on your team.

Exercise

Physical exertion causes the body to release endorphins, which acts as a natural energy boost. Staying fit and active will give you the energy you need to thrive on the night shift.

Studies show that just 10 minutes of light exercise will significantly increase your alertness. If you don’t have time to work out before your shift, there are ways to fit exercise into your work schedule. Lunges, wall-sits, and jogging up and down the stairs are great ways to stay active while you’re on the job.

Be Careful on Your Days Off

Although it may be tempting to change your schedule to suit your days off, be careful about disrupting your regular sleeping and meal schedules.

Staying awake for too long before starting your first night shift of the week will disrupt your internal clock, negatively affecting your energy levels. Eating at irregular intervals prevents your metabolism from functioning efficiently and optimally.

Do your best to maintain your routine. Your body will thank you later.

Eat Healthy Snacks During Your Shift

Snacking is a great way to stay energized over the course of a long night. However, it’s important to eat the right snacks.

Almonds and cashews are high in healthy fats and protein. Avocados are superfoods, which means they’re nutrient-dense and contain relatively few calories. Fruits and vegetables are low-calorie options with natural sugars and fiber.

Try to avoid snacks high in sodium and added sugar — they may give you a quick boost, but you’ll end up crashing hard.

Training and Education

There are lots of resources to help night-shift workers thrive. Organizations like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) offer online classes created by experts for professionals like you.

Night shift training offers in-depth strategies for your professional and personal life intended to maximize your performance and minimize your stress levels.

Make Time for Friends & Family

Most of the world works during the daytime, which makes socializing difficult for healthcare professionals who work nights. However, it’s important to spend time with friends and family.

Your social life greatly impacts your emotional well-being, which is closely tied to your physical and mental health. Avoid feeling isolated or lonely by making time for social interaction.

Maintaining your emotional well-being will help you provide better care for your patients and help you have a longer, happier career.

We hope you found these tips for succeeding working the night shift helpful. Are you a travel nurse that works the night shift? Do you have any tips for fellow travel nurses working the night shift to help them succeed? Comment them below.

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This article provided by: GHR Travel Nursing

Nursing is an occupation that doesn’t stop at 5 p.m. when everyone else is heading home from work. Every night, many nurses put on their scrubs and head to work while everyone else is going to sleep. Caring for patients in hospitals, long-term care facilities and nursing homes is a 24/7 occupation.

While the job duties and responsibilities remain the same across shifts, nurses on the night shift are presented with unique challenges. The shift’s schedule and atmosphere require nurses to significantly adjust their daily lives and routines to meet its demands.

Adapting to the night shift for travel nurses can be a challenge. Here are our top eight tips for adapting to the night shift for travel nurses:

1. Create a Proper Sleep Schedule

Working overnight will interrupt your natural sleep pattern. Therefore, you need to reprogram your body’s sleep schedule accordingly. Make sleep a priority at home. Sleeping for long periods of time without any interruptions is best for your body and mind. In addition, it’s important for night shift nurses to keep the same sleep schedule even on the weekends.

2. Create an Environment Conducive for Sleeping

When your brain perceives darkness, it produces melatonin, the sleep hormone. Make your bedroom mimic nighttime during the day with blackout curtains or shades and eye masks. Be sure to disconnect all possible interruptions like phones, electronics or doorbells.

3. Caffeinate Wisely

While caffeine can help maintain or improve alertness while offsetting fatigue for night shift workers, be careful not to overdo it. Eliminate any caffeine towards the end of your shift to help ensure proper sleep.

4. Pack Healthy Snacks and Meals

What you eat before and during the night shift will have a significant impact on your energy, stamina and overall performance. It’s important to choose items that will provide you with energy without a crash later in the shift.

Opt for well-balanced smaller, more frequent meals consisting of high-protein, complex carbs and low-fat foods. Try to incorporate proteins like tuna, eggs, string cheese, turkey, peanut butter and tofu into your meals as they increase alertness and focus.

Remember to stay hydrated by drinking plenty of water to reduce the chance of fatigue and headaches caused by dehydration.

5. Fool Your Brain with Lighting

While the lights throughout most facilities are kept dim overnight so the patients and residents can sleep, try and keep the lights on bright at the nursing stations or break rooms to help fool your brain. Then on your way home from work, wear sunglasses to reduce brain stimulation from the daylight.

6. Keep Busy

Night shifts typically are less hectic than during the day as the majority of patients or residents are asleep. Try and keep yourself busy in between continuously monitoring patients throughout the night with simple activities that can be quickly put aside to help a patient. Some examples of ways to keep your brain occupied throughout the night shift are reading books or magazines, solving Sudoku puzzles or knitting.

7. Build Relationships with Your Co-Workers

Time flies when you’re having fun! Help your shift go quickly by engaging and getting to know your co-workers. Lifelong friendships often develop on the night shift.

Working the night shift most likely means you’re on an opposite schedule of your friends and family, but don’t let it interfere entirely with your social life. Make sure you plan family time and date nights for your days off.

Adapting to the night shift can be challenging, but after a while you’ll find the methods that work best for you while you adjust to your new routine.

Have you switched to night shift? Do you have some tips to share? Comment them below. If you would like more tips or advice on adapting to night shift for travel nurses read: Tips and Tricks for Rotating Shifts as a Travel Nurse.

Many night shift nurses have difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep. Check these tips to help you get a great night (or day’s) sleep.

Insomnia:

Insomnia is trouble falling asleep or staying asleep through the night. Episodes may come and go (episodic), last up to 3 weeks (short-term), or be long-lasting (chronic).

Create Darkness:

Two great ways to create darkness to help you sleep better during the day are to use a Sleep mask like this one by Sleep Master or to create a dark room by using some Black-out shade or window covering like the one pictured here by Shift Shade.

Limit Noise:

Turn off your cell phone and other items that may distract you from sleeping. White noise is helpful for some to block out any external noises like the neighbor’s lawn mower or kids playing. Try this White Noise Sound Machine.

Herbal Sleep Aides
Occasional use of sleep aids may help get you to sleep if you are having trouble on a particular occasion. Get the lightest dose you can, and don’t use it daily. Using sleep aids daily can cause dependency and drowsiness during your shift. Check with your physician and ensure that there aren’t any contraindications with any prescription medications you are taking. Check these Natural Sleep Aides

Other Tips:

Get plenty of regular exercise.
Set a sleep schedule and try to stick to it even on your days off.
Set regular meal times.
Make an effort to get a moderate amount of sun. Sunlight helps your body produce Vitamin D.
Maintain a Healthy Diet.

What do you do to ensure a good ‘day’s’ sleep when working the night shift? Give your tips in the comments!

If you are a new travel nurse or looking into becoming a travel nurse:

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night shift nurse

Tips for Travel Nurses: 10 Ways to Succeed on the Night Shift