"I can do this. I've raised six children and I have experience with long, sleepless nights." These were the thoughts I entertained when I received my first job offer to work the night shift at our local hospital. That was twenty-six years ago and I still sleep late into the morning and come alive at night.
According to research, there are somewhere between nine and fifteen million people in this country who work the night shift. That is an astounding number. Their value in our society lies in the fact that the areas where they work simply cannot shut down. These night workers can be found in hospitals, on ambulance crews, in police and fire departments, managing the desks in hotels and motels, and even working in big industries. For the most part, these folks are doing what all night workers do--adjusting to life working in artificial light and doing their best to sleep in darkened rooms during the day.
I found a number of studies relating to our circadian clock and some of the findings are quite interesting. In one study, for instance, conducted by the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, the discovery of a "clock-gene" that is linked to our natural twenty-four hour cycle is very sensitive and expresses itself in a variety of ways to light. (I had no idea there was a "clock gene.") This twenty-four hour cycle, called the circadian clock, is what tells our bodies when it is time to sleep and when it is time to wake up. It tells us we should be awake when it is light and sleeping when it is dark.
Working the night shift plays havoc with these circadian rhythms. The chemicals in our bodies were designed to keep us awake during the daylight hours and asleep when the sun goes down.
Other researchers are tying night workers to a multitude of diseases such as breast cancer. This dreaded condition has been linked to the use of artificial light. Further, there are studies that have found a relationship between heart disease, bone fractures, gastrointestinal, mood, and neurological disorders in night shift workers. Diabetes and obesity have also been noted to be a result of working the dreaded night shift.
In an article by Brandon Keim, "Night Shift Makes Metabolism Go Haywire," it was suggested that even on your days off, you should keep the night shift schedule to keep your circadian rhythm, settled. There are very few people who want to do that. Most of us want to get back to "normal" schedules on our days off for a variety of reasons. When I was still working, I felt very fortunate to be able to maintain a normal schedule on my days off. After an eight day stretch with two days off in the middle--my weekend, if you will--I would have a six day stretch off to catch up and return to a normal rhythm. This worked quite well for me.
From Lisa Percy's website "Night Owl Café," I gleaned the following suggestions to help night workers get the sleep they need.
1. Sleep in a darkened room. This will fool your body into thinking it is night. Some people choose to wear a sleeping mask and darken their windows to create the illusion that it really is night.
2. Limit inside and outside noise. Most of the world is awake during the day and life goes on for them as usual. Get yourself a good pair of ear plugs and some signs to hang on your door.
3. Turn the ringer off on your phone or unplug it. Most callers, especially the pesky telemarketers don't know you're a day sleeper. Let your answering machine take your messages in another part of the house.
4. Inform as many people as possible that you are a day sleeper to keep telephone calls or home doorbells to a minimum.
5. Avoid caffeine at least three to five hours before you settle in for your sleep.
I managed to be productive on the job at night for twenty-five years, and could still get the sleep my body needed during the day. I am one of those who used to come home, change clothes and climb right into bed, falling asleep within fifteen minutes. My own circadian rhythm usually wakes me up after five hours of sleep. That gave me a few daylight hours to see the sunshine and do a few chores around the house. I then could get a one to two hour nap before getting ready to start it all over again.
Because I worked 12-hour shifts, my days were made up of sleep, eat and work. I ate a fairly nutritious diet, walked on the beach when it wasn't raining, and my husband and I enjoyed a variety of activities whenever we shared a day off together.
I am retired now because I found my energy level was decreasing and my pace was beginning to slow. In the spring of last year, I hung up my stethoscope, retired my scrubs and am spending the rest of my days finding out what it's like being awake in the daylight hours every day of the week. It has been quite an adjustment.
Am I sorry I took that very first night shift job? Not for a single minute. I guess I am one of the few who can say I was cut out of the night owl mold. I realize there aren't many who can say that, but for me it has worked out very well.
I can honestly say, I have never considered my experiences as a night shift nurse as "dreaded."
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