Argumentative Essay On Night Shift
Being a night shift nurse is a grueling job. Though, it is the shift most nurses start on in their career. I have worked as a labor and delivery nurse for the last 10 years, 8 of them on night shift. I have come up with these 5 tips that helped me get through it with two kids, a husband, and dog.
Schedule It Right
Many nurses, like me, are mothers. As a mother, you have many responsibilities and sleep is never a priority, especially on night shift. No one will understand. You can tell your mother that you worked last night, and she will still want to go shopping at noon, thinking that was enough sleep. Let me tell you, it is not. I tried explain it to my husband one time by saying, “OK, so if you go to bed at 10, can you get up and start your day at 2am, or even worse, make dinner, check homework, and chase the toddler? He tried to understand.
When I worked my twelve hours shifts, I would ALWAYS schedule …show more content…
Driving home can be the scariest time of the day. Many nurses, including myself, have driven home from work not remember how we got home. I always said that I would be better driving drunk (not that I do) than driving after night shift, and I still agree.
Some tips to staying awake on the drive home:
Carpool - Taking a friend with you on the way to work can help so much because you can keep each other awake
Phone a friend - Keep each other engaged in the conversation
Window down, radio up - Ok, everyone would always tell me this tip on night shift, but that fatigue behind the wheel didn’t matter to me.
If you try these tips and still cannot keep your eyes open, find a safe place and set an alarm. There has been times I have stopped in a parking lot for 15 minutes and fallen asleep. I had a friend who fell asleep in the fastfood drive thru, and another who swerved into oncoming traffic and was in a terrible accident. it is just not worth it, if you are sleepy, sleep in a safe area for a few
Schedule It Right
Many nurses, like me, are mothers. As a mother, you have many responsibilities and sleep is never a priority, especially on night shift. No one will understand. You can tell your mother that you worked last night, and she will still want to go shopping at noon, thinking that was enough sleep. Let me tell you, it is not. I tried explain it to my husband one time by saying, “OK, so if you go to bed at 10, can you get up and start your day at 2am, or even worse, make dinner, check homework, and chase the toddler? He tried to understand.
When I worked my twelve hours shifts, I would ALWAYS schedule …show more content…
Driving home can be the scariest time of the day. Many nurses, including myself, have driven home from work not remember how we got home. I always said that I would be better driving drunk (not that I do) than driving after night shift, and I still agree.
Some tips to staying awake on the drive home:
Carpool - Taking a friend with you on the way to work can help so much because you can keep each other awake
Phone a friend - Keep each other engaged in the conversation
Window down, radio up - Ok, everyone would always tell me this tip on night shift, but that fatigue behind the wheel didn’t matter to me.
If you try these tips and still cannot keep your eyes open, find a safe place and set an alarm. There has been times I have stopped in a parking lot for 15 minutes and fallen asleep. I had a friend who fell asleep in the fastfood drive thru, and another who swerved into oncoming traffic and was in a terrible accident. it is just not worth it, if you are sleepy, sleep in a safe area for a few