News, Nurses skip sleep for 24 hours before work.

[Wartrace]

I did the 5:30pm to 6am shift for five years in a job that is probably more physically demanding than nurse. It sucked but I managed to show up every night fully rested.

I suspect these nurses skipping sleep haven't adjusted to reality. They are trying to live live dayshift workers on their days off

[usayit]

I did 12 hour shifts from midnight to noon, three days a week with an occasional extra day and then switch to a day wakeness (if you call it that) for the rest of the week with family. It looks good on paper but man was that tough. It really screws with your mind and health. It got progressively harder and harder to the point I was skipping long periods without sleep just like the nurses. I then started to depend on a few hard drink to shut down and then pumping coffee to stay awake. It would all reset after I take a some time off.... but then slip back into it fairly quickly.

One coworker liked it.... but he lived as a night owl with little family at home to share a life with. I guess its great if you dont have to keep switching wake schedule.

We had one day guy who boasted that night shifters had it easy.... until he got volunteered to cover one week due to a night guy getting sick. He ended up falling asleep behind the wheel of his car.... got into a litle trouble with an officer. Luckly he feel asleep waiting at a stop light. It was not funnynthen but we laugh at it now.

[plmokn]

I once was asked to work third shift. They told me I'd get a 18% or so shift differential. Big deal.

I wouldn't work 3rd shift for a 50% shift differential.

[RetFireFEMTech]

After rotating shift work most of my adult life, I started straight nights at a hospital working with nurses from 7p to 7a three nights a week and every third weekend. I enjoyed it probably because I was an older single male and worked with up to seven female nurses but heard horror stories of nurses on their way home having near accidents; nurses having to stay up all day due to no baby sitter or a sick child. Night shift got a shift differential and the benefit of no management. Sleeping was a challenge, but I used black-out curtains in my bedroom and earplugs and for the most part survived for 10 years.

[usayit]

Oh man you brought back memories of that time...

Dark sunglasses from the Noon till I got home in hopes to avoid sun

Earplugs

Sleeping in the basement (kids playing outside drove me nuts.. not their fault)

Driving home purposely choosing a route that had a lot of parking lots to pull into just in case. It was a 40 min commute. I pulled into one to take a "break". Scared the crap out of my wife... I ended up falling asleep in my truck for several hours. She thought I got in a wreck since I wasn't home. If I recall it was one of the best sleeps I had.... strange.. Right next to a busy highway.

Gained a bit of weight. Ate crap on nights at work.

Falling asleep in the car ride too and from dinner (on the days off) with my wife.

Occasionally, crashing in bed sleeping for 10-15 hours on my days off.

Shots then coffee then shots then coffee.




Yeh.. the only perk was no management. The people I worked with did make it bearable for those 2 years. They were a cool bunch. It was a skeleton crew at nights/weekends so work was either feast or famine. You were either drowning in work or waiting for clients to call. Co-workers would help each other out when possible (making sure you were up if the phones rang). We turned out the lights to make it easy on the eyes and turn them on before day people started to stroll in. One day management put a lock box on the lights even after senior staff had a discussion with them to explain that your eyes really suffered at night with the cheap bright fluorescent lights. There were zero complains from customers who didn't have access to our desk area anyways. Jerks... we eventually would simply unscrew the bulbs above our desks.

I'd do it again.. sure ... only for the family and I was desperate enough.