Tag: night shift

Managing Healthcare Shift Work Challenges: Strategies for Well-being and Professional Growth

Shift work is a crucial part of many healthcare jobs, especially in hospitals, emergency services, and various clinics. It can offer you the flexibility you need, along with a higher pay rate due to night shift differentials. However, it can also have a significant impact on your mental health, lifestyle, and overall well-being. To make an informed decision about whether a particular shift pattern is right for you, it’s important to consider all the pros and cons carefully. So, don’t rush into it blindly – take the time to weigh up the options, learn how to manage the challenges of shift work, and make the best choice for your health and happiness.

Understanding the Effects of Shift Work

Sleep & Circadian Rhythms

Working irregular shifts, especially those that involve night shifts, can play havoc with your body’s natural circadian rhythms. This can lead to sleep disorders that can have a profound effect on your mood, cognitive abilities, and overall health. Research has shown that disrupted sleep patterns can cause a lot of damage to your body, both physically and mentally. So, it’s always a good idea to maintain a healthy sleep routine to ensure your body gets the rest it deserves.

Mental Health

Shift workers, especially those who work at night, might be at a higher risk of experiencing mental health issues such as stress, depression, and anxiety. Studies highlighted by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) have revealed that the irregular hours and isolation that often come with non-traditional work schedules can make these feelings even worse. It’s important to take care of your mental health, regardless of what type of work you do.

Lifestyle and Social Impact

Working non-standard hours can negatively impact your personal life and relationships with family and friends. You may find it difficult to coordinate your free time with those who work or study during regular business hours, which could cause you to feel lonely or left out of important events and milestones.

Physical Health

Irregular working hours and the need for quick, less healthy meal options can have a negative impact on physical health. The World Health Organization has identified shift work that disrupts circadian rhythms as a potential cause of cancer. Furthermore, the lack of regular physical activity due to fatigue or time constraints can contribute to long-term health issues.

It’s Not All Bad: Benefits of Shift Work

Don’t worry, we’re not going to just up and leave you with that list of not-so-fantastic side effects of working irregular hours. Believe it or not, there are unique benefits as well, both professionally and personally.

Flexibility and Work/Life Balance

For those who willingly enter into shift work (or even those dragged in by their shirt collars), flexibility is the most cited benefit. If you can find ways to navigate irregular sleep patterns, night shifts can accommodate various personal commitments: family responsibilities, continuing education, or even hobbies that require daylight. Work-life balance means something different to everyone, and for some, this is the way to find it.

Higher Compensation

As mentioned above, night and weekend shifts often come with higher pay rates that can make a notable difference in your overall earnings. These financial incentives can be a significant motivator not offered by traditional day shift work.

Professional Development Opportunities

As most night shift workers will tell you, it’s a whole different animal from the day shift in more ways than you can imagine. Working different shifts can expose you to a wider range of experiences and challenges that bring professional growth. With fewer resources and staff available, night and weekend shifts often bring more opportunities for hands-on learning and autonomy, fast-tracking the development of critical thinking and decision-making skills.

Quieter Work Environment

While the eventful times may require more of you, many shift workers appreciate that there are many more opportunities for quiet lulls at night and on the weekend. Fewer visitors and administrative activities provide a less hectic atmosphere and more time to focus on patient care. This can lead to a more fulfilling work experience and stronger patient-provider connections.

Community and Team Bonding

There’s a unique camaraderie that develops among shift workers, born out of shared experiences and the challenges of working non-traditional hours. These deep, supportive relationships can enhance job satisfaction and emotional well-being.

Improved Patient Care

We all know healthcare never sleeps, which is why shift work is so crucial in ensuring that healthcare facilities are always well-staffed with the best professionals. This means that patients can receive the care they need no matter what time it is, and healthcare providers can take pride in knowing that their work is making a positive difference in the lives of their patients.
Top of Form

Strategies for Overcoming Shift Work Challenges

If shift work is part of your life, whether by choice or necessity, you need to find ways to make the best of it and overcome some of the negatives we discussed above. Luckily, all hope is not lost. Here are some tips to overcome the challenges.

Health and Wellness

Prioritize good sleep hygiene practices, such as creating dark and quiet sleeping environments and avoiding caffeine before bedtime. Consider using mindfulness or relaxation techniques to manage stress and protect your mental health.

Nutrition and Exercise

When you’re not able to eat with others, it can be tough to prioritize healthy eating. Planning and prepping healthy meals ahead of time can help you avoid the temptation of fast food. And don’t forget to sneak in some physical activity too, even if it’s just a quick, brisk walk during a work break. Your body will thank you!

Social Connectivity

Maintaining social connections is crucial for our mental and emotional well-being. Make an effort to connect with friends and family regularly. Plan activities during your days off and communicate openly about your schedule and its challenges. By being honest and transparent with your loved ones, you can work together to find a mutually convenient time to get together.

Professional Support

Don’t hesitate to seek support from your employer. Some healthcare facilities offer resources for shift workers, including counseling services, wellness programs, and flexible scheduling options to accommodate personal needs.

Making Informed Choices

When considering a job that involves working in shifts, it is important to evaluate the advantages and disadvantages in the context of your personal health, lifestyle preferences, and career goals. While some healthcare professionals may enjoy the flexibility and change of pace that comes with shift work, others may find it difficult to adjust to this kind of schedule.

Before accepting a position, it is important to ask about the possibility of rotating shifts versus fixed shift patterns, chances for schedule changes over time, and the support systems in place for shift workers. Remember that your well-being is crucial in helping you provide the best possible care to your patients and achieve a fulfilling career in healthcare.

 

Interested in learning more about shift work and self-care in healthcare? Check out these blogs:

Tips for Surviving the Night Shift

Day Shift vs. Night Shift: A Consistent Nursing Dilemma

5 Self-Care Tips for Healthcare Professionals

 

Tips for Surviving the Night Shift

Bucking your biology and working the night shift can take some getting used to. Here are some tips to make transitioning to nights a little easier.

The human body is naturally programmed to be awake during the day and to be asleep at night, so bucking your biology and working the night shift can take some getting used to. Follow these tips to get into a new routine that will make transitioning to nocturnal nursing a little easier.

Set Yourself up for Some Good Sleep

Hang soundproof, blackout curtains to keep as much noise and light out as possible. While the panels won’t completely mask the sound of your jerk of a neighbor cutting their grass early in the morning, or keep out 100% of the blazing midday sun, they will definitely make a marked difference in helping your body adjust to your new nocturnal life. For the remaining sound and light, use ear plugs and an eye mask to completely daytime-proof your sleep. Also, make sure your room is cool—between 60- and 67-degrees Fahrenheit is the recommended temperature for optimal sleep—and before you settle into bed to catch some z’s, pop a Melatonin tablet and put your phone into Do Not Disturb mode, if possible.

Stay Awake After Your Shift

Set up your schedule so you stay awake for a few extra hours after work and awake shortly before your shift to maximize your alertness on the job. Waking up and beginning your shift early in your so-called day will leave you feeling more energized, as opposed to crashing as soon as you get home and trying to pack in activities prior to working. Just as you would get up and go to work for a day job, plan to do the same when working nights, so you won’t be dragging on the tail end of your shift. Use the time after your shift to run errands, get in some exercise, prepare meals, or even go on a breakfast date with your significant other or your friends, if their schedules allow.

Pack Energizing Foods

Night shift nurses typically see a bit more downtime than those working days, when patients are awake and eagerly pressing their call buttons, so you might find that you have more time for meals and snacks than when you worked days. Use this to your advantage and fuel your body to keep you in top shape, mentally and physically, as well as keep your energy up while on the job. Reach for nuts, lean proteins, and dried fruits at the beginning of your shift to get you going, eat small snacks of the same throughout the night to add in bursts of energy, and be sure to avoid carbs until you get home to keep from feeling tired and sluggish.

Avoid Caffeine

This may seem counterintuitive, but reach for water, instead of coffee, to keep your body powered and to avoid sleep disfunction when you’re off the clock. Caffeine may give you a boost in the short-term, but it will eventually lead to a crash. Staying hydrated not only gives you energy, but it helps your brain function, which are both things that will make the night shift easier. If you simply cannot go without caffeine and need to get your fix, make sure you are only consuming it early in your shift to lessen any adverse effects when you clock out.

Stick to Your Routine

Once you find a schedule and a routine that works best for you and leaves you feeling at the top of your game, stick with it—even on your days off. Instead of having to readjust and reset your body clock over and over, keep it on the same schedule, even if you are tempted to flip it back to how it used to be and make use of the daylight in ways you can’t while on the clock. A regular sleep schedule promotes better sleep. Be as consistent as you can be to keep yourself rested and healthy.

Disclaimer: The viewpoint expressed in this article is the opinion of the author and is not necessarily the viewpoint of the owners or employees at Healthcare Staffing Innovations, LLC.

Day Shift vs. Night Shift: A Consistent Nursing Dilemma

Days versus nights is the nursing conundrum that never gets old. This article breaks down the pros and cons of both shifts.

From Nurse Keith’s Digital Doorway

As a career coach for nurses, I receive a lot of questions and complaints about nursing careers, and one of the most contentious and confusing issues for many nurses is whether to work days or nights. Perhaps you, dear Reader, have experienced such confusion yourself.

Days vs. nights is an old nursing puzzle that so many nurses face: Do I work nights and get the differential while ruining my social life, or do I work days and run my tail off when the residents, surgeons, NPs, and doctors are on hand all day to send me running with new orders and admissions?

When I was decided to go to nursing school, my wife was very supportive but she issued one warning: I could never work nights, and I promised her I never would. So, 22 years later, I’ve fulfilled my promise to the letter.

In the end, days vs. nights is the nursing conundrum that never gets old.

Working Days

In terms of hospital employment, many nurses regularly work day shift. Day shift is when a lot happens: physicians, surgeons, PAs, and nurse practitioners make their rounds; tests are ordered; meds are changed; charts are reviewed; admissions can come in fast and furious. If you work in a teaching facility, residents and interns are also part of the mix.

Depending on the milieu or facility, day shift can be rather intense. There are generally more meds and procedures during the day, and patients may be poked and prodded more than they are at night when their main job is to try to get some rest (which can sometimes feel impossible in a hospital setting).

During day shift, meals are distributed to patient rooms three times a day and there are simply more personnel running around from task to task. Many nurses say that the potential for all hell to break loose is often more likely on days.

Pros of Day Shift

There are many benefits to working days — here are a few that are worthy of highlighting:

Sleep: Humans are generally wired to sleep at night. Period. Working days allows you to honor your normal circadian rhythms and sleep like everyone one. Your partner or spouse may also very much appreciate you being around to keep the bed warm, especially in winter.

Learning: Some anecdotal evidence from nurses shows that many feel that they have more opportunities to learn during day shift. With surgeons, physicians, nurse practitioners, and clinical nurse specialists roaming the halls and available, consults and rounds and off the cuff conversations can really help a nurse to gain and sharpen clinical knowledge. Other staff are also on hand during the day, including but not limited to respiratory therapists, case managers, and other valuable colleagues.

Teamwork: Since more people are around during day shift, you have more opportunities to interface with others and develop your teamwork skills. Working days also allows you to interface with patients’ families and do some important patient and family education.

You’re in on the action: Don’t get me wrong, night shift can be full of surprises and learning for sure. However, the faster pace of day shift may feel more exciting to some nurses who like seeing the hours fly by.

Connecting with patients and families: During day shift, you have more opportunity to connect with patients and their families. That relationship-building can be important, and only the day nurse has the chance to truly do that work. When you work days, you’re also around to see the changes in your patient. You also have the chance to send him or her to procedures and then assess them when they return to the floor. If you work days, you also have more chances to say goodbye to patients when they’re discharged.

Food: Cafeterias in acute care facilities are always open during the day. Having access to a warm meal (if you can manage to get a break) is a real boon, especially for those nurses who aren’t so good about bringing food from home.

Going out after work: Some nurses who work nights may go out for breakfast with colleagues after working all night, but reason leads me to believe that nurses who work days may be more likely to go out with colleagues for happy hour or a treat after day shift.

Cons of Day Shift

Day shift may be a panacea for some, but for others there are far too many detracting factors to make day shift a good choice for them.

Missed opportunities with your kids: If you work 7am to 7pm, you need to leave the house before the kids are barely awake and you miss the opportunity to be present for preparing for their school day. You also don’t get off of work until well after they get home, so you miss out on after school time as well. If you work 7am to 3pm, that shift will allow you more chances to be around for the kids after school.

Getting stuff done: Back in the days before electronic banking and online shopping, people who worked days would often have a hard time getting normal stuff done. If you work Monday-Friday during the day, making medical appointments can be very difficult, and some businesses and services are simply only available in the daytime during the week.

The relative chaos of days: Some nurses loathe days because it’s just too chaotic. In the previous section, we mentioned having other colleagues around as a plus, but it can also be a huge minus, especially for introverts who prefer more solitude and autonomy. Working days, there’s also more chances of being bossed around by a physician or other provider.

Patients’ families: Whereas having the chance to do patient and family teaching during day shift can be exciting and satisfying, families and visitors can often make your shift much more difficult. Some nurses love interacting with families, but some can’t stand it and prefer nights when no families or visitors are allowed (except for very special circumstances).

Working Nights

Some nurses simply love night shift and would never trade it for days. Night shift has a certain mystique, and night nurses share that particular world with gasoline and convenience store attendants, law enforcement, first responders, firefighters, factory workers, hotel staff, and a host of other professionals and non-professionals who toil away while the rest of us are asleep.

Pros of Night Shift

The things that drive some people crazy about day shift may be the reasons why certain nurses love night shift.

Autonomy and relative quiet: During night shift, patients’ families and visitors are generally not around, nor are most physicians and providers. Thus, things are pretty quiet and nurses can focus more on patient care with fewer distractions.

Earning potential: Night shift salary and differentials can be significantly higher than days, and the extra earnings can really add up. Some nurses have a hard time giving up nights for this reason alone.

Errands: Getting off of work in the early morning means that the night nurse can (ever so sleepily) do a few important errands on the way home. Having to be at work at 3pm also means that the nurse has more opportunities to fit in medical and other appointments, although lost sleep may result if those appointments take longer than expected.

Fewer traffic woes and better parking: Commuting during off hours can make the drive to and from work must more pleasant and faster. Those nurses who work day shift have to deal with countless other commuters who are on the road at the same time. Meanwhile, parking can be much easier at night.

Time with the kids: Night shift nurses can sometimes make it home in time to get the kids off to school. Sleeping during the day and waking up mid-afternoon can also allow for the night nurse to receive the kids when they come home from school. This can be a big plus for busy families, including being available for parent-teacher conferences and other important events and meetings.

Time to think: The quieter environment and slower pace of night shift can allow for more time to think, plan, and sort out one’ life.

Cons of Night Shift

Marital/relationship issues: Not being around during many nights of the week can sometimes lead to relationship problems. Spouses and partners gain much from sleeping in the same bed, including but not limited to sexual intimacy. Working nights can cause some marital discord if energy isn’t put into making up for lost time to remain connected as a couple.

Your social life: Working nights, especially Fridays and Saturdays, can cause you to miss out on a lot in terms of your social life. If you head to work at 6:30pm on the weekends, you’re going to be slogging away on the unit while your friends are out to dinner or partying without you. Some night nurses feel their social life suffers enormously.

Fatigue and other health issues: There’s no escaping that working nights has many deleterious physiological and psycho-emotional effects due to significantly impacted biorhythms. Proper nutrition, self-care, and high-quality dietary supplements can help, but the negative side effects of nights are real. Working night shift has been shown to increase the risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, obesity, mood disorders, gastrointestinal issues, and more. The National Sleep Foundation even has a name for it: Shift Work Disorder. One of the main problems with night shift is a lack of exposure to the sun. Sleeping all day in a blacked out room certainly increases your risk. Having to sleep so much to make up for your fatigue can cause you to lose a great deal of time at home when you just need to rest and can’t do anything else.

Time goes by so slowly: For many night nurses, the hours go by incredibly slowly since the pace of work is generally much less intense. Night shift can seem endless, especially when you’re already tired.

Less connection with patients: Working nights means patients are often asleep most of the night and you have fewer opportunities to connect, talk, educate, and form a nurse-patient bond.

Making the Choice

Choosing between days and nights is never set in stone (unless you’re married to someone like my wife and you promise to never ever work nights!) If you’re new to nursing, you might want to try both and see what you like better. Luckily, you can always change your mind, but remember that making the change from nights to days (or vice versa) can be challenging for a while.

Some night shift nurses become very dependent on the extra money, a factor that can make it hard to return to days. Day shift nurses also value their regular sleep schedule and time with family and friends, so moving to nights can seem improbable, if not impossible. For those who like nightlife and partying, you’re definitely going to miss out on some fun when you’re doing the nighttime nursing thing.

In the final analysis, we need nurses working both days and nights, and there are luckily always people who prefer one over the other. Both days and nights have their ups and downs, and every nurse has to find the workstyle that fits with their chosen lifestyle. And as your life changes over the years, the shifts that seemed totally unworkable to you in the past may begin to seem more attractive as you and your life evolve.

You’re not married to your work-related choices forever. Make the best choice for now, and be open to a new way of working in the future.

Keith Carlson, RN, BSN, NC-BC, is the Board Certified Nurse Coach behind NurseKeith.com and the well-known nursing blog, Digital Doorway. Please visit his online platforms and reach out for his support when you need it most.

Keith is co-host of RNFMRadio.com, a wildly popular nursing podcast; he also hosts The Nurse Keith Show, his own podcast focused on career advice and inspiration for nurses.

A widely published nurse writer, Keith is the author of “Savvy Networking For Nurses: Getting Connected and Staying Connected in the 21st Century,” and has contributed chapters to a number of books related to the nursing profession. Keith has written for Nurse.com, Nurse.org, MultiViews News Service, LPNtoBSNOnline, StaffGarden, AusMed, American Sentinel University, the ANA blog, Working Nurse Magazine, and other online publications.

Mr. Carlson brings a plethora of experience as a nurse thought leader, online nurse personality, podcaster, holistic career coach, writer, and well-known successful nurse entrepreneur. He lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico with his lovely and talented wife, Mary Rives.

Disclaimer: The viewpoint expressed in this article is the opinion of the author and is not necessarily the viewpoint of the owners or employees at Healthcare Staffing Innovations, LLC.