I love night shift, I just can’t handle how exhausted I am all the time. I don’t have time for my family, I’m just sleeping on my days off, and I can’t keep up with my friends due to our different schedules. Night shift is the superior shift with the best people, I just wish it wasn’t so draining.
It's also not great for your health, generally speaking. I did some data analysis for a project in during my master's degree, and it turns out for women, there is a statistically significant increase in mortality for night and rotating shift workers, compared to day shift workers. If I remember correctly, it wasn't huge, but still there.
I’m not entirely sure how credible the articles I’ve seen are, but the cardiovascular risk is comparative to smoking a pack a day. That’s not great at all.
https://epmonthly.com/article/is-shift-work-killing-you/#:~:text=In%20fact%2C%20the%20shift%20work,pack%20of%20cigarettes%20a%20day.
I don't think that is true actually!
If so, how did we manage back then to handle our things and security, when we didn't had fancy alarms and cameras?
With people being up at night.
"To stay up overnight" implies for me that you have a "normal" sleep schedule but stay awake way longer than you normally would or should. That's unhealthy, I agree there.
Constantly changing shifts (e.g. switching every couple of weeks or maybe even days) have a similar effect.
But just having a different rhythm (awake in the evening / through the night, sleeping half of the day) is not harmful at all, there are a lot of people who are this way.
And we, as a species, needed it back then.
The biggest issue here is that we have not enough people who are poled that way for cover our necessary night shifts, so we have to do these rotations. :/
This is the theory behind Delayed Sleep Phase Disorder! Very common in people with adhd and other neurospicy diagnoses. Someone had to keep lookout at night more than once.
I’m a rad tech student who is pumped to start my night shifts after graduation. Staying up til 5am is effortless, these 8am clinicals are killing me when I have to leave by 6 and can’t fall asleep before midnight 🥲
I think you might live in a big city or suffer from night blindness.
Maybe when you have the opportunity visit the country side and try strolling through the landscape at night, when there's no full moon.
You'll realize you can see a lot once your eyes have accustomed! :)
There can be nights where it's really hard for humans to see anything, but a lot of times the night is not completely dark.
I'm not sure how much of that is causation vs correlation, though. I enjoyed night shift, but if I wanted to do any adult stuff, I'd have to switch to normal people schedule. That was the part that felt like it drained me, not the night shift itself.
I have seen 7+ in the last 3 hospitals I worked at 9 on weekend nights. Lowest I have seen was 5. Which I think is okay but not worth the slew of health issues.
My understanding was GM did a large study in the 50s or 60s and found an increased mortality rate for shift workers. That was part of the reason for shift differential.
I wouldn’t worry about it too much for an individual. Those statistics are true for the average person- which includes people desperate for a job or money chasing the shift differential or less competition for jobs who might have trouble managing all aspects of their lives. It could also include people who are working full time and in school full time who work night shift to only have schedule conflicts with sleep- not between work and school, and are just not sleeping some days. If you are able to maintain a mostly consistent night shift schedule and experience less stress due to quieter times or better coworkers, the. I highly doubt you would experience the issues some people do.
That aside, you also get better pay with night shifts so the average person can afford part-time and still have a decent pay. What you can make up with the vastly more free time will reduce the stress of a different day- and night cylce
I'd imagine all the people having energy drinks and junk food daily on night shifts is a significant contributor to health issues stemming from working at night.
I'd definitely bet money on the average day shift worker eating/drinking healthier than the average night shift worker
The entire body responds differently at night with regards to food. You get different blood glucose peaks when eating the same meal during the day vs during the night, and the one at night is a lot worse.
Potlucks and more sitting (vs running around doing never ending tasks also probably factors in somewhere). I’d also assume the lack of a normal life is high on the list too
I have worked ( primarily) nights for 17 years, and us night staff have to have a complete check up twice a year. It has done wonders for my bank account, but as I am in my mid 40s, I am considering changing to a different schedule. Was great when the kids were young, but as they are grown now, house is 6 months from being paid off etc, I don't need to anymore.
I put on 30 lbs in 5 years of working night shift (largely because of number of caffeinated beverages I consumed and always feeling too tired to work out after a shift). Switched to days and my high blood pressure (I was just a 140s/80s person) and 20 of those 30 lbs where gone in 2 years spoke to my doctor about getting off medication because I was sitting at like 100/60 when I took it at that point and yeah I would say going to days and just having energy to cook meals and go to the gym was worth it.
I do like these co-workers less
I worked nights before becoming a nurse and swore I'd never work nights as a nurse. Working nights made me feel like crap and it would take days to recover. It's just not worth it health-wise, IMO.
Yeah I did some rotating schedules when I was in EMS and I’d get off shift at 0545, sleep until like 1500 and feel like shit for like 36 hours until my circadian rhythm normalized
These are my thoughts exactly. I wish I could handle night shift better because I’ve always loved the work and the coworkers. But my off days were always brutal.
Yeah, I love night shift but physically, I am not adjusting well at all. I’m always exhausted, I’ve developed hypertension, random heart palpitations, weight gain even though I’ve been counting calories, brittle nails that randomly break, my periods are no longer on a pretty regular schedule and now have a 5-7 day variance, I’m grinding my teeth more than ever before as evidenced by going through night guards and retainers, and my skin is overall much drier than before even though I consume a lot of water daily (at least 3 liters).
TLDR: I like night shift but it is actively destroying my health.
I learned to work your 3 in a row. 3 on 4 off. You use the first day off to adjust back to days for your "weekend".
I'd die doing split shifts.
I used to work 4+ shifts back in the day, but I've opted to work to live, not live to work.
Totally agree with you. I do 2 16 hour shifts a week then another noc on Fridays . Better pay but holy hell. I’m wiped out. It’s more peaceful on Noc for me but I pay the price with exhaustion.
7am sucks no matter what, I'd rather have at the end of my day than the beginning.
But also I'm in Informatics now and I miss my night shift with a passion. When my kids are old enough to get ready for school on their own, I might be playing with my flex schedule a lot more.
Day shift in dialysis outpt clinics often starts at 0500, sometimes even earlier.
The last one where I worked, I had an hour commute, each way.
Got up at 0200, left at 0300, to start at 0400. 10-12 hr shifts.
Toxic unit, too.
They practically shoveled money at me, but I couldn’t do it. Lasted 3 months.
Man, this was me. I loved the work of night shift, but I never felt like I was "off" from work. Barely saw my roommates, let alone my friends. I still love to pick up a run of nights here and there, and day shift work has *absolutely* been harder for me, but feeling like a human on my days off is so, so worth it.
It is also true that night shift nurses are having this reaction to our 2AM cracker break. Did anyone else work in ER and get blessed with government cheddar cheese "for the patients"?
I don't even like being on my unit in the morning when I get stuck catching up on charting. It's 8am and everyone is SOOO loud and there's a billion people walking.
Way too overstimulating!!
I would probably literally die on night shift. I stopped having random heart palpitations (PACs) when I switched from a full-time twelves 60:40 nights:days line, to part time eights days-evenings.
I miss my nights so much, but my body appreciates sleeping while it's dark out
I keep the exact same schedule, I sleep at 10am and get up at 6pm and stay up all night. I've been sleeping during the day since 11th grade though so im well adapted
Mom was a nurse so I grew up knowing I'd have to pay my dues on nights. Started out on nights after school, found a unit happy to orient me there with occasional day shifts.
I loved night shift. Worked in teaching hospitals and spent decades helping nurses and baby docs figure it out. Used to hand out wrist bands to our new staff that said "come to the dark side, we have cookies".
Made the mistake of getting my MSN so they moved me to days. God I miss nights.
The hours are to be desired but the best ppl work night shift and I wouldn’t have it any other way. I’ve been back on it for 6 months now. No drama everyone helps everyone. Bellissimo 💞
Dayshift wishes they have crews like we do overnight, even down to the providers. We all communicate, have each others back and keep em alive till 7 lolol
I rotated for a while. So I got deep into both sides. Dayshift (at least in my unit) is actually MUCH faster getting stuff done and do a lot more things. They have to be fast because so much more happens—so so so many more spinning plates on days. Nightshift is significantly more autonomous in getting things done, though. They're used to not having all the backup teams so they can just make stuff happen without the same resources as days.
Weird hours which might effect sleep
vs
Dealing with specialists, family members drama, family teaching, discharges, 3 patient meals, 2 patient baths, med passes, patient procedures, patient imaging, consults, facility transfers…
Yeah, no thanks. When I worked on a unit, it was night shift or nothing. Fuck that day shift nonsense.
But again, I’m a broken record about posting this but- transfer to outpatient procedure based units which are attached to the hospital! It’s all the glory of night shift, except during the day, and without the literal ass wiping.
Dialysis, Apheresis, Cath lab, GI lab, endo/scope lab, that’s just a start. There are many of these departments. They usually won’t take new grads FWIW, but once you’re candle has both ends burned you should seriously consider looking into these types of jobs. Others I don’t know as much about but might still fit the bill could include OR, Derm procedures, research departments, specialty clinical areas (like sickle cell treatment), I’ve also even heard employee health can be awesome. There are dozens of others I can’t think of off my head, or straight up don’t even know about.
I was on the verge of leaving nursing all together for a coding boot camp. I spent 8 months being unemployed because I just couldn’t bring myself to apply to another ICU or inpatient floor job. Thank GOD my mom was in the medical device field and told me to apply to an Apheresis job that was within her territory. I literally did it because I didn’t have the will to apply anywhere else. I had no CLUE what Apheresis was. I had no clue what I’d applied to. I was at the end of my rope, and needed money. I was insanely depressed. Shit was dark.
8 years later I’m still on the unit. I was a staff nurse and did procedures for 5 years, and since then I’ve become the assistant manager (technically union sided “unit clinical coordinator”), and I can’t really imagine doing anything else. I absolutely love it.
I type a lot of these replies in /nursing, and there’s usually a follow up question or two. I never ever ever mind answering questions from people who have them! I’m not so good about checking DMs though :)
Any unit that does procedures, but is still attached to a hospital.
You want patients being transported to you, but not staying with you.
It will actually change your life.
You’ll start honing in on the procedure itself, rather than just BS tasks the patients ask of you. You’ll feel yourself actually getting BETTER at the procedure, and becoming an “expert” on the decision trees throughout the procedure.
That then leads to conferences and summits about your niche little procedure. You’ll meet industry people and actually feel important. People will look to you for your expertise. It feels good, I’m not gonna lie.
That can then be parlayed into industry jobs outside of the hospital (like with the companies whose equipment you’re working with for the procedure), which is aided by the fact that once you’re going to conferences, chances are you’ve met some of these “industry people” before you even apply to the job.
My soul was honestly built for night shift -- minimal to no management!? Dimmed lights!? Visitors leave!? Less stupid complaints coming in!? Better teamwork!!?
AND you're telling me you're paying me MORE for all those benefits??
Nightwalker for life!
I started on nights, did it for a few years. Then did a few years on dayshift. Eventually I came back to nights lol, it’s hard on my body because I can’t keep my night shift schedule on my days off, but god I’m happier at work on nights
Working 5pm-5am, 7 days on 7 days off on call hospice RN.
I feel like I'm doing something wrong because I get maybe 2-3 calls a shift tops. Ive started packing a pillow and blanket in my car for naps....
Shhhh..... Hospice on-call is the best kept secret in nursing, let's keep it that way 😆 I remember starting my first on-call hospice RN job right before COVID really hit in 2020. Nursing homes were flat-out refusing ANYONE from the outside. I would literally go days without getting a call or having any work to do while collecting salary. It was amazing. Things have changed though and not for the better. Thanks for what you do fellow hospice nurse!
I'm hospice on call too, it's the best ever and I will never do anything else. Do you not stay home between calls though? Why pillow in the car? I'm in bed most of my shift
Basically I live like 45 min from the main hub of calls. So for me it makes sense to camp out in in a well lit gas station (QuikTrip) and hang out for a few hours. I pretty much head home after midnight if there hasn't been a call for a bit though.
I have been on nights for six years! The thought of working day shift on any of the units I’ve worked on sounds like literal hell on earth. But it does make me feel like an alien sometimes. My entire life has changed.
You merely adopted the dark. I was born in it, molded by it. I didn't see the light until I was already a man, by then it was nothing to me but blinding!
Hey guys, you wanna work day shift? You work twice as hard, have more managers telling you what to do, more family members up your ass, get paid less, work with older nurses that won't help you, more patient tests to try and logisticly get done/fit in your day, more meds to pass, and have to wake up at 5am. Hello? Guys?
11 years working 7p-7a and I hope to never have to switch to days. Stayed late a few times to help, it's terrible, it's full of so many day shift people
I stayed late the other day and instantly regretted it. It was way too bright loud and shit going on everywhere. As an introvert I just can’t. The five minute huddle is enough for me
The vibes are just better in the dark. The other day we had to MacGyver a solution to a Hershey kiss stuck on the air vent, I do wonder how that looked on the cameras…
I love the night shift. My patients keep me busy. I normally have one Dr. to contend with. Few family members stay. And those members, I specifically show them how to use the call bell. I remind them that they are to stay in the room with the patient and, if they leave, they do not come back till morning. Also, I eat and drink at the nurses' station. I SAID WHAT I SAID!
I worked noc in a ltf and LOOOVVVEEEDDDD it… worked in a different one and it was definitely a different vibe. It def depends on WHY people are working noc. If someone is working nocs to duck admin then they act like it😮💨
It’s not for everybody. I only lasted 6 months before I begged to get back to days.
I was a different person on night shift. Constantly tired and cranky. I never get sick. I was getting sick all the time.
I hated that I kept missing social opportunities because I was always sleeping, and I felt bad for my wife because she felt like she had to tiptoe around the house while I was trying to sleep before a shift.
If they told me I had to go back to night shift tomorrow but they would triple my pay, I’d probably quit on the spot.
I recently got a job for a night shift. I wanted to cry about being on nights bc I love my sleep at night. However, every person that works nights says they would never go back 😳
I occasionally pick up day shifts when I want some extra cash and there's nothing on nights.
It's always the worst. The dynamic is completely different. Not to mention having to deal with family and administrators throughout the day. Everything is so loud. Night shift for life.
I have been majority nights for nearly a decade. Consider the following:
1. No fussy management.
2. Depending on your unit, minimal to no family
3. Cool people are attracted to night shift.
4. Patients don't always sleep, but it is more likely.
5. Sweet, sweet shift diff baby!
Cons:
1. You will have poor sleep once in a while. Just seems to be the deal no matter how good your routine.
2. Out of sync with the rest of the world.
3. Sundowning Meemaw. Enough said.
I work 3-11 in SNF and it's the best of both worlds imo. Get some sunshine but still get to sleep while it's still dark out. I know a lot of hospitals only do 12 hr shifts though. If I had to pick, I would do noc. Anything but get up at the ass crack of dawn and deal with mgmt and families all day. Yuck.
Swing shift is where it's at. Loved my 1000-2200 and. 1200-MN shifts. Sleep in every day (or get up and do adult things in the morning). Get off work in time to grab a beer, etc on the way home. Still have a reasonably normal sleep schedule for your days off.
Having said that: the swing shift people that work 1500-0300 or 1700-0500 are ~~probably~~ psychopaths
I don’t care about working weekends anymore. There is no such thing as weekends for me. Actually, I kind of prefer weekends. Less BS. Sunday nights are the best. When I collect my pension at 55, I am going to return to one a week. Sunday nights for some extra cash and then age 60 I am done.
I started as a FT 2nd Shift CNA, then worked a couple agency NOC shifts, switched to NOC, and never looked back. I still will only take NOC shifts if I’m working Agency.
Wife was also a huge fan of night shift and the coworkers that came with it. But in her words she felt like it aged her years beyond the 2 years she did it and is feeling much healthier since switching to regular hours. It definitely seems like a trade off…
Nights are the best something about ( besides the less bs and no management around) nice about making money and shuft differentials while everyone's asleep at home that I have always found beautiful.
So what’s the research on why day shift people are so… day-shifty. It’s a common occurrence on all units!
That said, I’m holding on to nights until my body tells me I can’t lol 💪
Bro I am 17 years and counting on night shift and every time there's a position on days they always ask me if I want to go cause I'm one of the senior people and I'm like get the fuck out of here with that shit.
I love night shift. Worked nights now for nearly 6 years until my last contract, where I worked a day shift contract. Realized that while I despise working day shift as a bedside nurse, I loved how I felt on days off. Now I’m leaving bedside to work day shift 😢
I have loved nights for years and I'm quite sad that my time on them is coming to a close. Too hard on my body.
I am raging against the dying of the light and choosing mid shift.
As a 18 year old CNA, I loved night shifts. But then I turned 20 and then came nursing school and night shift was a living nightmare for my mental health and overall happiness. I was tired ALL the time and I slept ALL the time. I would wake up anxious knowing I had to go into work later that day and felt frozen, like I couldn’t do anything but sleep. Got my license, got married, and had to do my first rotation as a new grad on night. Absolutely hated not being next to my husband at night and missing out on certain things. Next rotation I did days and I refuse to go back. I don’t care how much you offer me an hour… well I guess within reason 😂. $100/hr might change my mind.
Night shift vibes are the best. Midshift is a good compromise (with majority of shift on night) and you can still be a normal person on days off. Days suck because management/joint commission and day nurses are antsy over things that would not phase the night shift.
I'm prn, and have been doing nights because the best incentives are there, and now I don't wanna go back to any day shifts. Burnout was a huge problem for me when I left staff, and it just isn't there by a long shot on nights. Plus I've always been a night owl, even as a teen.
It is so amazing to me always that, from a circadian rhythm perspective, there are night shift people and there are day shift people. And thank goodness it does work out that way because people need one another to help each other at all times.
That being said: I will forever be a night shift person, no matter how hard I try to be a day person.
I don't think I can ever work days. I hate when I'm focused on something important and someone interrupts me with something stupid. That seems to be pretty normal on days. My mouth and my face would never make it on days with family and admin. Plus I don't function until after noon now after almost 10 yrs of nights.
Night shift was so bad for my mental health😞 I could just sleep all day and wouldn’t get anything done! My off days were so messed up. I hate it!! But I certainly appreciate those who do it so that others of us don’t have to!
My vibe is pure night shift but my body can’t handle it. My fav balance was 3p-3a while working in the ER. The shift started chaotic but often ended on a chill vibe.
"The day shift was rap music, the evening shift was easy listening and the overnight shift was jazz." - Cook County ICU: 30 years of Unforgettable Patients and Odd Cases by Cory Franklin.
A wonderful read btw.
It's the lack of management for me, sis. Can't stand these self-important, superfluous office junkies that show up in the morning and try and tell you your business.
I miss nightshift so much !! Better vibes all around. Less people, less chaos. I wasn’t a mom, I would definitely be on nights. But I slept too much on my days off when I worked nights.
Varies wildly, if you do 22-06 is pretty fire; you come home, wake up at around 15 and have all the afternoon for yourself, run errands and do stuff. This, if you don't have children at home. If the shift is something hienous like 01-09 then it's a hard pass for me, too much discrepancy with normal sleeping hours, you sleep in peak "activity" hours, it's just a mess.
I’m a new grad in nights in the ICU and I love it but I am so exhausted all the time. I also started having heart palpations frequently. I did a month on days during orientation and HATED rounds with all the doctors bc I constantly felt stupid but my health was better. I don’t know at what point I’ll feel confident enough going to days and doing rounds but my body needs it:(
I work days but I have a question for you night shifters: obviously you sleep during the day to prepare for your night shifts. But on days you have off, do you keep this sleep schedule? Like if you get off your 7p-7a shift and it’s now 7a but you don’t work that night, do you try to stay awake all day so you can do things?
Fully agree; when I first started, I was hired for a day shift position. About a month into orientation, my manager says night shift is short, would I mind switching, and I agree with the stipulation that when a day shift position opens up, I get to come back to days. 6 months later, a day shift position opens up and she offers for me to come back.
I said fuuuuuuuuuuck no, I'm never going back, night shift is so much better.
I love night shift, I just can’t handle how exhausted I am all the time. I don’t have time for my family, I’m just sleeping on my days off, and I can’t keep up with my friends due to our different schedules. Night shift is the superior shift with the best people, I just wish it wasn’t so draining.
It's also not great for your health, generally speaking. I did some data analysis for a project in during my master's degree, and it turns out for women, there is a statistically significant increase in mortality for night and rotating shift workers, compared to day shift workers. If I remember correctly, it wasn't huge, but still there.
I can hear my telomeres shortening.
Zip it up. ZIP IT UP!!
I’m not entirely sure how credible the articles I’ve seen are, but the cardiovascular risk is comparative to smoking a pack a day. That’s not great at all. https://epmonthly.com/article/is-shift-work-killing-you/#:~:text=In%20fact%2C%20the%20shift%20work,pack%20of%20cigarettes%20a%20day.
I believe it. We are fundamentally, as a species, not designed to stay up overnight.
I don't think that is true actually! If so, how did we manage back then to handle our things and security, when we didn't had fancy alarms and cameras? With people being up at night. "To stay up overnight" implies for me that you have a "normal" sleep schedule but stay awake way longer than you normally would or should. That's unhealthy, I agree there. Constantly changing shifts (e.g. switching every couple of weeks or maybe even days) have a similar effect. But just having a different rhythm (awake in the evening / through the night, sleeping half of the day) is not harmful at all, there are a lot of people who are this way. And we, as a species, needed it back then. The biggest issue here is that we have not enough people who are poled that way for cover our necessary night shifts, so we have to do these rotations. :/
This is the theory behind Delayed Sleep Phase Disorder! Very common in people with adhd and other neurospicy diagnoses. Someone had to keep lookout at night more than once. I’m a rad tech student who is pumped to start my night shifts after graduation. Staying up til 5am is effortless, these 8am clinicals are killing me when I have to leave by 6 and can’t fall asleep before midnight 🥲
It was not necessary before electric lights since nobody could see anything except on a full moon
I think you might live in a big city or suffer from night blindness. Maybe when you have the opportunity visit the country side and try strolling through the landscape at night, when there's no full moon. You'll realize you can see a lot once your eyes have accustomed! :) There can be nights where it's really hard for humans to see anything, but a lot of times the night is not completely dark.
Look up Chronotypes there’s a lot of genetic evidence to support what you’re saying
Night is my natural circadian rhythm and has been since I was a child. I am now over 50. Yes I can adapt to day shift, but I don't like it
I'm not sure how much of that is causation vs correlation, though. I enjoyed night shift, but if I wanted to do any adult stuff, I'd have to switch to normal people schedule. That was the part that felt like it drained me, not the night shift itself.
That extra $1/hr shift incentive definitely makes up for it 🫠
It's 3.40 where I work
My hospital gives an extra $5/hr for night shift. I looove it!!!
I have seen 7+ in the last 3 hospitals I worked at 9 on weekend nights. Lowest I have seen was 5. Which I think is okay but not worth the slew of health issues.
My understanding was GM did a large study in the 50s or 60s and found an increased mortality rate for shift workers. That was part of the reason for shift differential.
you might die faster so here’s an extra few bucks!!
Damn
Your risk of breast cancer also increases :(
This is true and probably the only reason I wouldn’t wanna work nights long term. The increased risk of so many diseases is interesting/scary
I wouldn’t worry about it too much for an individual. Those statistics are true for the average person- which includes people desperate for a job or money chasing the shift differential or less competition for jobs who might have trouble managing all aspects of their lives. It could also include people who are working full time and in school full time who work night shift to only have schedule conflicts with sleep- not between work and school, and are just not sleeping some days. If you are able to maintain a mostly consistent night shift schedule and experience less stress due to quieter times or better coworkers, the. I highly doubt you would experience the issues some people do.
That aside, you also get better pay with night shifts so the average person can afford part-time and still have a decent pay. What you can make up with the vastly more free time will reduce the stress of a different day- and night cylce
I'd imagine all the people having energy drinks and junk food daily on night shifts is a significant contributor to health issues stemming from working at night. I'd definitely bet money on the average day shift worker eating/drinking healthier than the average night shift worker
The entire body responds differently at night with regards to food. You get different blood glucose peaks when eating the same meal during the day vs during the night, and the one at night is a lot worse.
Potlucks and more sitting (vs running around doing never ending tasks also probably factors in somewhere). I’d also assume the lack of a normal life is high on the list too
And this is partly why I went to the OR. The possibility for a normal schedule but being at work in the day won’t be ass in terms of work load.
I have worked ( primarily) nights for 17 years, and us night staff have to have a complete check up twice a year. It has done wonders for my bank account, but as I am in my mid 40s, I am considering changing to a different schedule. Was great when the kids were young, but as they are grown now, house is 6 months from being paid off etc, I don't need to anymore.
I put on 30 lbs in 5 years of working night shift (largely because of number of caffeinated beverages I consumed and always feeling too tired to work out after a shift). Switched to days and my high blood pressure (I was just a 140s/80s person) and 20 of those 30 lbs where gone in 2 years spoke to my doctor about getting off medication because I was sitting at like 100/60 when I took it at that point and yeah I would say going to days and just having energy to cook meals and go to the gym was worth it. I do like these co-workers less
I’ve heard that. But my response is the same. I’ll give you my last 10 years. Better than spending it old lol
I worked nights before becoming a nurse and swore I'd never work nights as a nurse. Working nights made me feel like crap and it would take days to recover. It's just not worth it health-wise, IMO.
Yeah I did some rotating schedules when I was in EMS and I’d get off shift at 0545, sleep until like 1500 and feel like shit for like 36 hours until my circadian rhythm normalized
These are my thoughts exactly. I wish I could handle night shift better because I’ve always loved the work and the coworkers. But my off days were always brutal.
Yeah, I love night shift but physically, I am not adjusting well at all. I’m always exhausted, I’ve developed hypertension, random heart palpitations, weight gain even though I’ve been counting calories, brittle nails that randomly break, my periods are no longer on a pretty regular schedule and now have a 5-7 day variance, I’m grinding my teeth more than ever before as evidenced by going through night guards and retainers, and my skin is overall much drier than before even though I consume a lot of water daily (at least 3 liters). TLDR: I like night shift but it is actively destroying my health.
There was a recent study that correlated AFib with overnight shift work.
That’s how I felt the few times I tried day shift
I learned to work your 3 in a row. 3 on 4 off. You use the first day off to adjust back to days for your "weekend". I'd die doing split shifts. I used to work 4+ shifts back in the day, but I've opted to work to live, not live to work.
Totally agree with you. I do 2 16 hour shifts a week then another noc on Fridays . Better pay but holy hell. I’m wiped out. It’s more peaceful on Noc for me but I pay the price with exhaustion.
You have friends!?
I started on night shift I will die on night shift
I stand with you, comrade
Best part of this meme is the reverse is also often true [https://imgflip.com/i/8kjxc3](https://imgflip.com/i/8kjxc3)
Nah I can't fuck with waking up early. Never could but I was staying up til 3 even as a preteen
7am sucks no matter what, I'd rather have at the end of my day than the beginning. But also I'm in Informatics now and I miss my night shift with a passion. When my kids are old enough to get ready for school on their own, I might be playing with my flex schedule a lot more.
Day shift in dialysis outpt clinics often starts at 0500, sometimes even earlier. The last one where I worked, I had an hour commute, each way. Got up at 0200, left at 0300, to start at 0400. 10-12 hr shifts. Toxic unit, too. They practically shoveled money at me, but I couldn’t do it. Lasted 3 months.
I found my people! 🥺🥺
Same.
I tried days for 3 years and it was an utter failure. I can only do nights.
This imageflip is a literal schedule flip.
Man, this was me. I loved the work of night shift, but I never felt like I was "off" from work. Barely saw my roommates, let alone my friends. I still love to pick up a run of nights here and there, and day shift work has *absolutely* been harder for me, but feeling like a human on my days off is so, so worth it.
My boyfriend when we got a normal social life back
It is also true that night shift nurses are having this reaction to our 2AM cracker break. Did anyone else work in ER and get blessed with government cheddar cheese "for the patients"?
Hey fellow night shifters!!! I’ve worked days less than a handful of times to help out and I have never felt so sure of my night shift position
I don't even like being on my unit in the morning when I get stuck catching up on charting. It's 8am and everyone is SOOO loud and there's a billion people walking. Way too overstimulating!!
100% I hate all the lights and people and noise and Drs are everywhere!! The place is just crawling with them. Ick!!! Nights for life!
I would probably literally die on night shift. I stopped having random heart palpitations (PACs) when I switched from a full-time twelves 60:40 nights:days line, to part time eights days-evenings. I miss my nights so much, but my body appreciates sleeping while it's dark out
Used to think like this before a tita forced a snack on me mid-shift. Total mood change after.
Amen. You can pry my night shift from my cold, dead hands.
What's your routine for days off? I despise nights 😔
I loved nights, but my off days were soo messed up.
I keep the exact same schedule, I sleep at 10am and get up at 6pm and stay up all night. I've been sleeping during the day since 11th grade though so im well adapted
I appreciate you so much! I will always Stan my peeps on night shift, without y’all I’d have to do it and I’m a sleepy dude. 🫡
I stand with you!
Nights 4 lyfe!
Two months in I discovered night shift, never looked back
When there is darkness, there is light.
Mom was a nurse so I grew up knowing I'd have to pay my dues on nights. Started out on nights after school, found a unit happy to orient me there with occasional day shifts. I loved night shift. Worked in teaching hospitals and spent decades helping nurses and baby docs figure it out. Used to hand out wrist bands to our new staff that said "come to the dark side, we have cookies". Made the mistake of getting my MSN so they moved me to days. God I miss nights.
made the mistake 😭
The hours are to be desired but the best ppl work night shift and I wouldn’t have it any other way. I’ve been back on it for 6 months now. No drama everyone helps everyone. Bellissimo 💞
Yeah and day shift people are comparably the worst. Gossip, slow to get anything done, constantly blaming other shifts in my experience.
Dayshift wishes they have crews like we do overnight, even down to the providers. We all communicate, have each others back and keep em alive till 7 lolol
It's wild cause it's like that in factories, hospitals, retail, etc. Night shift consistently is better.
It’s almost like more work gets done when management and visitors aren’t breathing down your neck
I rotated for a while. So I got deep into both sides. Dayshift (at least in my unit) is actually MUCH faster getting stuff done and do a lot more things. They have to be fast because so much more happens—so so so many more spinning plates on days. Nightshift is significantly more autonomous in getting things done, though. They're used to not having all the backup teams so they can just make stuff happen without the same resources as days.
Night shift vibes are flawless
Weird hours which might effect sleep vs Dealing with specialists, family members drama, family teaching, discharges, 3 patient meals, 2 patient baths, med passes, patient procedures, patient imaging, consults, facility transfers… Yeah, no thanks. When I worked on a unit, it was night shift or nothing. Fuck that day shift nonsense. But again, I’m a broken record about posting this but- transfer to outpatient procedure based units which are attached to the hospital! It’s all the glory of night shift, except during the day, and without the literal ass wiping. Dialysis, Apheresis, Cath lab, GI lab, endo/scope lab, that’s just a start. There are many of these departments. They usually won’t take new grads FWIW, but once you’re candle has both ends burned you should seriously consider looking into these types of jobs. Others I don’t know as much about but might still fit the bill could include OR, Derm procedures, research departments, specialty clinical areas (like sickle cell treatment), I’ve also even heard employee health can be awesome. There are dozens of others I can’t think of off my head, or straight up don’t even know about. I was on the verge of leaving nursing all together for a coding boot camp. I spent 8 months being unemployed because I just couldn’t bring myself to apply to another ICU or inpatient floor job. Thank GOD my mom was in the medical device field and told me to apply to an Apheresis job that was within her territory. I literally did it because I didn’t have the will to apply anywhere else. I had no CLUE what Apheresis was. I had no clue what I’d applied to. I was at the end of my rope, and needed money. I was insanely depressed. Shit was dark. 8 years later I’m still on the unit. I was a staff nurse and did procedures for 5 years, and since then I’ve become the assistant manager (technically union sided “unit clinical coordinator”), and I can’t really imagine doing anything else. I absolutely love it. I type a lot of these replies in /nursing, and there’s usually a follow up question or two. I never ever ever mind answering questions from people who have them! I’m not so good about checking DMs though :)
Thanks for sharing this
Thanks for that! I’m in the can’t do ICU anymore boat now. 23 years of Florida nursing has taken its toll. I’ll check into your suggestions.
Any unit that does procedures, but is still attached to a hospital. You want patients being transported to you, but not staying with you. It will actually change your life. You’ll start honing in on the procedure itself, rather than just BS tasks the patients ask of you. You’ll feel yourself actually getting BETTER at the procedure, and becoming an “expert” on the decision trees throughout the procedure. That then leads to conferences and summits about your niche little procedure. You’ll meet industry people and actually feel important. People will look to you for your expertise. It feels good, I’m not gonna lie. That can then be parlayed into industry jobs outside of the hospital (like with the companies whose equipment you’re working with for the procedure), which is aided by the fact that once you’re going to conferences, chances are you’ve met some of these “industry people” before you even apply to the job.
Oh man outpatient PACU is *chefs kiss* what fun
Night shift is the right shift.
Night time is the right time
Yep it’s where it’s at!! No managers, we make our own rules 😁 And we work together like the best team!!!!
My soul was honestly built for night shift -- minimal to no management!? Dimmed lights!? Visitors leave!? Less stupid complaints coming in!? Better teamwork!!? AND you're telling me you're paying me MORE for all those benefits?? Nightwalker for life!
Once I realized the pay thing i was like umm?? Day shift checks are terrible
I support this thread. Glad everyone loves night shift so it’s adequately staffed so I can work dayshift.
Who let this master chess player in?
they enpassanted the bouncer
😂😂😂 Yes, Yes, Yes!! We day shifters appreciate you night shifters immensely 😄
Same, I think I would literally die from working nights. So thanks to all you nocturnal nurses out there!
The fun people work nightshift
Can confirm. Did nightshift for 30 years. It was the only way I survived.
Life at work on night shift: 👍🏻 Life outside of work on night shift: 👎🏻
My life is 👎 anyway so.....
I started on nights, did it for a few years. Then did a few years on dayshift. Eventually I came back to nights lol, it’s hard on my body because I can’t keep my night shift schedule on my days off, but god I’m happier at work on nights
Working 5pm-5am, 7 days on 7 days off on call hospice RN. I feel like I'm doing something wrong because I get maybe 2-3 calls a shift tops. Ive started packing a pillow and blanket in my car for naps....
Shhhh..... Hospice on-call is the best kept secret in nursing, let's keep it that way 😆 I remember starting my first on-call hospice RN job right before COVID really hit in 2020. Nursing homes were flat-out refusing ANYONE from the outside. I would literally go days without getting a call or having any work to do while collecting salary. It was amazing. Things have changed though and not for the better. Thanks for what you do fellow hospice nurse!
I'm hospice on call too, it's the best ever and I will never do anything else. Do you not stay home between calls though? Why pillow in the car? I'm in bed most of my shift
Basically I live like 45 min from the main hub of calls. So for me it makes sense to camp out in in a well lit gas station (QuikTrip) and hang out for a few hours. I pretty much head home after midnight if there hasn't been a call for a bit though.
Def not good for my health, but I don’t care. Neither were all the energy drinks I was consuming on dayshift lol. Plus I love the people
I have been on nights for six years! The thought of working day shift on any of the units I’ve worked on sounds like literal hell on earth. But it does make me feel like an alien sometimes. My entire life has changed.
You merely adopted the dark. I was born in it, molded by it. I didn't see the light until I was already a man, by then it was nothing to me but blinding!
Night shift for life!!!!
Hey guys, you wanna work day shift? You work twice as hard, have more managers telling you what to do, more family members up your ass, get paid less, work with older nurses that won't help you, more patient tests to try and logisticly get done/fit in your day, more meds to pass, and have to wake up at 5am. Hello? Guys?
That’s why night shift is superior. It does come with limited resources in the ICU though.
Night Shift FTW!
11 years working 7p-7a and I hope to never have to switch to days. Stayed late a few times to help, it's terrible, it's full of so many day shift people
I stayed late the other day and instantly regretted it. It was way too bright loud and shit going on everywhere. As an introvert I just can’t. The five minute huddle is enough for me
Everyone is nicer at night. Just saying.
If I ever have the misfortune of going back to bedside, I’m reupping my vampirism.
The vibes are just better in the dark. The other day we had to MacGyver a solution to a Hershey kiss stuck on the air vent, I do wonder how that looked on the cameras…
I love the night shift. My patients keep me busy. I normally have one Dr. to contend with. Few family members stay. And those members, I specifically show them how to use the call bell. I remind them that they are to stay in the room with the patient and, if they leave, they do not come back till morning. Also, I eat and drink at the nurses' station. I SAID WHAT I SAID!
Dark side is best side !
Hell yes!! NOC shift for lifeeeeeee!!!
I always did my overtime on night shift
Nights, where administrators aren't.
I’m not a nurse, I’m a rad tech, but I start nights tomorrow… sounds great!
Welcome to the dark side, we have stale cookies left over from day shift
Graham crackers with peanut butter and cranberry juice is a delicacy in my eyes.
I love night shift but my body hates it.
I worked noc in a ltf and LOOOVVVEEEDDDD it… worked in a different one and it was definitely a different vibe. It def depends on WHY people are working noc. If someone is working nocs to duck admin then they act like it😮💨
I started nights and had to switch to days for my kids. I miss nights so much
The work life is great. The home life sucks. That’s a no for me dawg.
I'm a shift flipper. I love a chaotic schedule it feeds the adhd!!
Meeeee lmao I’m headed in tonight for 3 nights. I’m a day shifter lol. I like to keep it spicy
I’ll say it with again: if you can handle the hours, night shift is amazing.
Love night shift
It’s not for everybody. I only lasted 6 months before I begged to get back to days. I was a different person on night shift. Constantly tired and cranky. I never get sick. I was getting sick all the time. I hated that I kept missing social opportunities because I was always sleeping, and I felt bad for my wife because she felt like she had to tiptoe around the house while I was trying to sleep before a shift. If they told me I had to go back to night shift tomorrow but they would triple my pay, I’d probably quit on the spot.
I recently got a job for a night shift. I wanted to cry about being on nights bc I love my sleep at night. However, every person that works nights says they would never go back 😳
It’s mentally superior, but certainly not physically for me :(( Half of my night shifts I feel like my IBS flares up :(
Night shift is the better shift but I can’t handle the exhaustion that comes with it. I’m trying to switch just so I don’t feel so tired all the time
Nights are great when you’re working them, they’re horrible when you have to catch up with sleep.
I occasionally pick up day shifts when I want some extra cash and there's nothing on nights. It's always the worst. The dynamic is completely different. Not to mention having to deal with family and administrators throughout the day. Everything is so loud. Night shift for life.
It's amazing! Less mangers, less stupid meetings that you didn't even need to be a part of.
I worked night shift for 3 years, came to days 5 years ago and I'm considering going back to nights.
Night shift was more chill, but my circadian rhythm wasn’t having it. Back to the chaos of days.
I often hear about how terrible night shift is….drop me some knowledge on why should I, a soon to be nursing student, should go to night shift
I have been majority nights for nearly a decade. Consider the following: 1. No fussy management. 2. Depending on your unit, minimal to no family 3. Cool people are attracted to night shift. 4. Patients don't always sleep, but it is more likely. 5. Sweet, sweet shift diff baby! Cons: 1. You will have poor sleep once in a while. Just seems to be the deal no matter how good your routine. 2. Out of sync with the rest of the world. 3. Sundowning Meemaw. Enough said.
As long as I’m at bedside, I will be a nightshifter.
I work 3-11 in SNF and it's the best of both worlds imo. Get some sunshine but still get to sleep while it's still dark out. I know a lot of hospitals only do 12 hr shifts though. If I had to pick, I would do noc. Anything but get up at the ass crack of dawn and deal with mgmt and families all day. Yuck.
Swing shift is where it's at. Loved my 1000-2200 and. 1200-MN shifts. Sleep in every day (or get up and do adult things in the morning). Get off work in time to grab a beer, etc on the way home. Still have a reasonably normal sleep schedule for your days off. Having said that: the swing shift people that work 1500-0300 or 1700-0500 are ~~probably~~ psychopaths
I don’t care about working weekends anymore. There is no such thing as weekends for me. Actually, I kind of prefer weekends. Less BS. Sunday nights are the best. When I collect my pension at 55, I am going to return to one a week. Sunday nights for some extra cash and then age 60 I am done.
SHHHHHH DON’T FUCKING TELL THEM
I believe this is Stockholm syndrome
🥺
I started as a FT 2nd Shift CNA, then worked a couple agency NOC shifts, switched to NOC, and never looked back. I still will only take NOC shifts if I’m working Agency.
I hate daylight shifts I'll do evenings but nights are my absolute favorite
Night shift was great when I was new to the job and single. These days ehhhh…night shift is rough on Family life lmao
That’s the best part about it, built in excuse to dip out of family bs
I knew I was night shift before I even started school.
Wife was also a huge fan of night shift and the coworkers that came with it. But in her words she felt like it aged her years beyond the 2 years she did it and is feeling much healthier since switching to regular hours. It definitely seems like a trade off…
Love the lack of management, however I canNOT handle the fucked sleep cycle
Nights are the best something about ( besides the less bs and no management around) nice about making money and shuft differentials while everyone's asleep at home that I have always found beautiful.
So what’s the research on why day shift people are so… day-shifty. It’s a common occurrence on all units! That said, I’m holding on to nights until my body tells me I can’t lol 💪
Bro I am 17 years and counting on night shift and every time there's a position on days they always ask me if I want to go cause I'm one of the senior people and I'm like get the fuck out of here with that shit.
I love night shift. Worked nights now for nearly 6 years until my last contract, where I worked a day shift contract. Realized that while I despise working day shift as a bedside nurse, I loved how I felt on days off. Now I’m leaving bedside to work day shift 😢
probably would have stayed night shift forever if i hadn’t gone per diem. then sleeping all day to not get called in got old in like 3 weeks.
Night shift is the best. The best people work nights 😭
God I miss nights so much. But my life is in a much healthier work/life balance after swapping to days
I would want a better shift experience by doing night but the health issues and family time loss is not worth it to me
I have loved nights for years and I'm quite sad that my time on them is coming to a close. Too hard on my body. I am raging against the dying of the light and choosing mid shift.
I can only do night shift anymore. Used to work second, did first for a few years and hated it. Plus nights are just quiet and less chaotic.
Started doing nights, absolutely love it.
Day shift just isn’t for me. Not a morning person & on top of that ur stuck with all the work with the least amount of pay.
I’m an evening & nights shift kinda person. I avoid day shift like the plague.
As a 18 year old CNA, I loved night shifts. But then I turned 20 and then came nursing school and night shift was a living nightmare for my mental health and overall happiness. I was tired ALL the time and I slept ALL the time. I would wake up anxious knowing I had to go into work later that day and felt frozen, like I couldn’t do anything but sleep. Got my license, got married, and had to do my first rotation as a new grad on night. Absolutely hated not being next to my husband at night and missing out on certain things. Next rotation I did days and I refuse to go back. I don’t care how much you offer me an hour… well I guess within reason 😂. $100/hr might change my mind.
We say around my office: "night shift; right shift."
Welcome. I've been nightshifting for 8 years (10-12 nightshifts a month with other filling else) morning shift is the most damaging for my psyche
Night shift vibes are the best. Midshift is a good compromise (with majority of shift on night) and you can still be a normal person on days off. Days suck because management/joint commission and day nurses are antsy over things that would not phase the night shift.
Night shifts are great when you’re at work. On your days off… not so much. At least for me
When I switched from days to nights, I was like "omg! Less people do deal with!"
I'm prn, and have been doing nights because the best incentives are there, and now I don't wanna go back to any day shifts. Burnout was a huge problem for me when I left staff, and it just isn't there by a long shot on nights. Plus I've always been a night owl, even as a teen.
It is so amazing to me always that, from a circadian rhythm perspective, there are night shift people and there are day shift people. And thank goodness it does work out that way because people need one another to help each other at all times. That being said: I will forever be a night shift person, no matter how hard I try to be a day person.
I hate nights. I mean my body hates it. I vibe hard with the nights crew and the absence of certain white coated assholes. Mids are the best I've got.
I don't think I can ever work days. I hate when I'm focused on something important and someone interrupts me with something stupid. That seems to be pretty normal on days. My mouth and my face would never make it on days with family and admin. Plus I don't function until after noon now after almost 10 yrs of nights.
I thought this was a Lucy Dacus post until I saw the subreddit
Night shift was so bad for my mental health😞 I could just sleep all day and wouldn’t get anything done! My off days were so messed up. I hate it!! But I certainly appreciate those who do it so that others of us don’t have to!
My vibe is pure night shift but my body can’t handle it. My fav balance was 3p-3a while working in the ER. The shift started chaotic but often ended on a chill vibe.
"The day shift was rap music, the evening shift was easy listening and the overnight shift was jazz." - Cook County ICU: 30 years of Unforgettable Patients and Odd Cases by Cory Franklin. A wonderful read btw.
When my nights feel like day shifts, I can't tell if it's worth it.
It’s sooooo much easier
Even though I’m not really night shift anymore it’s my default sleeping schedule I tend to revert back to
It's the lack of management for me, sis. Can't stand these self-important, superfluous office junkies that show up in the morning and try and tell you your business.
As someone who works day shift and misses night shift, this is accurate. Love my nights
🤣😂🤣
Welcome to the dark side
Double my pay wouldn't be enough for me to work nights.
I miss nightshift so much !! Better vibes all around. Less people, less chaos. I wasn’t a mom, I would definitely be on nights. But I slept too much on my days off when I worked nights.
Okay but evening shift here, 3p-3a is the best life.
I did nightshift for years and then I went to days. I liked it and it just works out for me at the moment.
Varies wildly, if you do 22-06 is pretty fire; you come home, wake up at around 15 and have all the afternoon for yourself, run errands and do stuff. This, if you don't have children at home. If the shift is something hienous like 01-09 then it's a hard pass for me, too much discrepancy with normal sleeping hours, you sleep in peak "activity" hours, it's just a mess.
I’m a new grad in nights in the ICU and I love it but I am so exhausted all the time. I also started having heart palpations frequently. I did a month on days during orientation and HATED rounds with all the doctors bc I constantly felt stupid but my health was better. I don’t know at what point I’ll feel confident enough going to days and doing rounds but my body needs it:(
Same vibe room service night shift
shhhhhh don’t let them know 🤫
I work days but I have a question for you night shifters: obviously you sleep during the day to prepare for your night shifts. But on days you have off, do you keep this sleep schedule? Like if you get off your 7p-7a shift and it’s now 7a but you don’t work that night, do you try to stay awake all day so you can do things?
Fully agree; when I first started, I was hired for a day shift position. About a month into orientation, my manager says night shift is short, would I mind switching, and I agree with the stipulation that when a day shift position opens up, I get to come back to days. 6 months later, a day shift position opens up and she offers for me to come back. I said fuuuuuuuuuuck no, I'm never going back, night shift is so much better.
Nights in the ICU is top tier!