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Hello,
My gf is a new PCU nurse fresh out of college. I want to support her as best as I can. I want to see what is "normal" and how I can help. She works 3X a week, 12 hour shifts from 7pm-7am. My main concern is she sleeps. A LOT. That's pretty much all she does on her days off is sleep. Get up for a bite to eat, then back to sleep. Sometimes she'll be up at 3am (to align with her schedule) and watch tv. I also work nights, as an IT so my job isn't nearly as stressful as hers. We sometimes have a few days off together, but basically she sleeps. I figure, she could sleep, maybe the first day, and then we can do something together the second?
I'm acquainted with a nurse who works those shifts at night. Your girl gets a lot of sleep. The nurse I know struggles to get enough sleep. The guy does a lot of the house work and errands.
You should support her as much as you can. She will really appreciate the chores you do around the house. 12 hour night shift nursing is no joke. It takes a lot out of you.
Hope I helped.
Hello,
My gf is a new PCU nurse fresh out of college. I want to support her as best as I can. I want to see what is "normal" and how I can help. She works 3X a week, 12 hour shifts from 7pm-7am. My main concern is she sleeps. A LOT. That's pretty much all she does on her days off is sleep. Get up for a bite to eat, then back to sleep. Sometimes she'll be up at 3am (to align with her schedule) and watch tv. I also work nights, as an IT so my job isn't nearly as stressful as hers. We sometimes have a few days off together, but basically she sleeps. I figure, she could sleep, maybe the first day, and then we can do something together the second?
Right now I do 100 percent of the cleaning.
Is this normal for a Nurse?
I am not a nurse but I work nights in health care. On my days off, especially the first day after a bunch of days on, I could sleep forever.
Give her some time to adjust and she needs to eventually learn to keep a schedule.
She shouldn't be sleeping that much on her days off. She should try to get up by noon if she doesn't have to work that night, and get into a more normal schedule. Then she should sleep late the morning of her first night back. Well - that's how I did it..I couldn't stand the thought off sleeping my life away, and your body learns to adjust.
Some people can't do nights - it makes them physically ill. And it's harder with kids.
You guys are fairly young, right? It's typical - especially staying up to 7 a.m. When I was new out of college, I slept until 4 p.m. and slept all my days off. Once got a bit older, had kids, I managed to function getting up at 10-11 a.m. max and up at normal for days off. She'll adapt (as much as you can, it's always hard).
I actually slept better working nights than I do working days (early mornings) mostly because I didn't have the pressure/temptation to stay up too "late" since there usually isn't much going on at, say, 10 or 11 am anyway since my wife was attuned to my schedule and there's no family gatherings or big social events or football games at noon on Tuesday. But, some people have a hard time getting enough sleep on nights if they try to pack too much into their days, e.g. childcare during the day and work at night.
The problem with nights is, it ruins your weekends because you're wanting to be asleep during the days/evenings when everything is happening and then at night once everyone goes to bed you're still going strong with no sleepiness in sight for hours and hours...then when everyone gets up again you're starting to get sleepy again. During the weeks it's not so bad because your other household members probably have work or school as well. But the weekends it was just really hard on my family because I was so limited in what I could do because I had to at least somewhat stay on a schedule -- I was not one of those people who could stay up 36 hours on Friday nights, sleep Sat Sun night, stay up 36 hours on Monday and then sleep Tuesday during the day. I don't have any idea how people manage that and I always felt it must be murder on your body over time, but maybe some people are just more adaptable.
My wife has been a night nurse for 40 years now and though she prefers it to working days with all the added drama, it does impact her sleep habits. Your girlfriend is probably still adjusting to the schedule so give her some time to acclimate herself to the night shift. My wife will also get up in the middle of the day to get a drink, watch a few minutes of TV then go back to bed. Not having ever worked the shift it's hard to put yourself in her shoes and experience the toll it takes on your body.
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But, some people have a hard time getting enough sleep on nights if they try to pack too much into their days, e.g. childcare during the day and work at night.
