‘The most exhausting year of my life.’

Photo by Jan Baborák/ Unsplash

In my 25-year-plus nursing career, I’ve had the opportunity to work every shift—days, nights, evenings, 8-hour and 12-hour shifts. Without a doubt, my least favorite was 12-hour night shifts, as I am more of a morning person than night person.

When I was a new graduate, it was hard finding a job on the day shift, since it’s typically more popular and there are fewer openings for inexperienced nurses. Because of this, I accepted a position working from 7 pm to 7 am.

It was the most exhausting year of my life. No matter what I tried, I couldn’t sleep well during the day, and by the end of the 12 hours I was wiped out. Although I was lucky enough to live only a few miles from the hospital, I found it difficult to stay awake for the whole ride home. I would catch myself trying to keep my eyelids from closing, and a few times I briefly fell asleep at red lights.

Close calls on the roads.

I am grateful that nothing bad ever happened during my sleep-deprived journeys. I have a friend who wasn’t as lucky and totaled her car one morning on the way home from work. She’s fine and nobody was injured, but it was a “wake-up” call as to the potential danger that drowsy driving poses.

Safety tips for night shift nurses.

This month’s Viewpoint article, “Mitigating Drowsy Driving Risk for Night Shift Nurses,” brings attention to this important issue and offers some tips and resources on how to travel home safely from shift work.

  • Get adequate sleep on a regular basis prior to getting to work. Try to maintain a consistent sleep schedule, block light coming into the bedroom, use earplugs, and keep the room temperature around 65 degrees °F.
  • Be alert to signs of dozing off, such as heavy eyelids and yawning.
  • Nap prior to leaving work or use a ride-sharing service.
  • Advocate for policies that encourage napping during night shift breaks. (This idea is supported by research, including “Original Research: Napping on the Night Shift: A Two-Hospital Implementation Project,” also written by Jeanne Geiger-Brown, one of the two authors of this Viewpoint.)
  • Consider getting an alarm for your car that alerts impaired drivers to drowsiness

For more information on sleep deprivation related to work and drowsy driving, visit the following websites:

https://www.sleepfoundation.org/shift-work-disorder/tips/coping-strategies

https://www.nhtsa.gov/risky-driving/drowsy-driving#resources

 

By Christine Moffa, PhD, APRN, PMHNP-BC, AJN senior clinical editor