Prepare for a nursey venting session in…3….2….1…..
If any one of you has ever worked the night shift, you know what I’m talking about. There’s a reason it’s called “graveyard” - because that’s where you feel like you belong after working a week of it. You feel dead to the world of the living, otherwise known as the day shift. We constantly envy these fortunate souls who have a set routine that makes their circadian rhythms just thrive. To them, at least the timing of their daily lives seems to make sense. It’s taken for granted, even, if one doesn’t know any differently. (I try not to hold it against them.) On night shift, you sleep during the day before you work to prepare for your shift, and you sleep the day after you work to recuperate. It adds a day onto your workweek simply to switch back to a somewhat normal lifestyle. It can become depressing due to the lack of human contact, especially when your days off consist of staying up late into the night. You miss out on the sunlight that would raise your serotonin levels and improve your mood. You feel constantly exhausted, regardless of how much you’ve slept. The rest of the world tends to wonder what your problem is. It seems as though most of us night-shifters can fall asleep anywhere. (But for those of you who know me well, this was true of me before I ever worked nights!)
Since I’m risking sounding like a huge complainer, I’d better keep some perspective here. The positive side is that night shift does pay better, and it tends to have great teamwork and a slightly less hectic pace due to less ringing phones and visitors. And in a hospital setting, someone has to take care of the patients at night. It is kind of satisfying to tuck them in and watch them (hopefully) sleep peacefully. Plus, “I work the night shift” is a great excuse for most anything!
However, in spite of these meager benefits, it is my conjecture that the research community will continue to find reasons why night shift shortens your lifespan, increases your risk for health problems, and is a compelling reason why PMS in night-shift females is much worse. Do I hear an “amen” out there?
I do try to take responsibility for my own decisions, especially when I’m venting in a public forum. And while I am obviously unhappily working nights, I admit I chose it because I had a higher priority: I wanted to gain experience in this critical care area. I have found that I love this area, and I never could have handled days at the start of this job. Now that I’ve gained some experience, I never give up hope that a day shift position will magically appear under my radar. In the meantime, it’s great blogging material.
For some interesting articles on the night shift dilemma, check out these sites:
Night Shift Survival Tips (Emergency Nursing World)
http://www.enw.org/NightShift.htm
Scientists have made great strides in figuring out how the body regulates the sleep cycle
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/6214314/site/newsweek/
In the Dark: Night-shift workers can feel isolated, hostile — and just plain tired
The winds of change appear to be very active my life. After 8 months of tenure with 
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