working the night shift

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  • #603049
    yentingyenta
    Participant

    anyone here ever work the night shift? how’d you get ready before and how did you get back to normal day time hours for shabbos?

    any advice would be greatly appreciated

    #875140
    popa_bar_abba
    Participant

    Popa will email this to his sister in law and she can post advice.

    #875141
    yentingyenta
    Participant

    ty pba

    #875142
    Health
    Participant

    Yenta – Welcome to the medical field. It ain’t easy. I never liked it when I had to do it. Luckily it’s not usually that busy as day.

    #875143
    yentingyenta
    Participant

    what welcome? I’m still in school-my capstone is night shifts on a peds floor. any advice?

    #875144
    hudi
    Participant

    Sleep before. Try not to bring too much food, cuz you may end up eating. Also, bring something to do (like something to study) because it’s definitely quieter than day shift.

    #875145
    rescue37
    Participant

    I worked the night shift for a while when i was in college. The only way I found to really adjust was to not go to sleep the day after the last night shift and force myself to be active during the day. I then went to sleep about an hour or two earlier that night and woke up at what I needed to be my regular time for the rest of the week.

    #875146
    takahmamash
    Participant

    I worked an overnight shift (8 p.m. to about 6 a.m.) for a few years. In fact, I was working it while I dated my wife and after we were engaged. I worked nights all week; on Friday mornings I would go home, daven, sleep an hour or two, then drive to NY for Shabbat. My kalla would leave me a shopping list, so I’d walk down Avenue M and pick stuff up. I took a nap in the afternoon with the family I was staying with, then walk to the subway to meet her when she came home from work. We had a normal Shabbat and Sunday, then I’d drive straight to work from NY on Sunday night.

    During the week I would find an early minyan, then go to sleep. I also tried to take a nap in the afternoon. My eating schedule during the week was breakfast in the early afternoon, dinner before I left, and a lunch type meal in the middle of the night.

    What is a capstone?

    #875147
    golden mom
    Member

    shabbos is very hard cuz everybody goes to sleep after the sueda and ur wide awake atleast u can sleep after the meal all afternoon but if ur not working motzei shabbos its very hard cuz ur up all night again

    the “days’ off are hard too cuz ur jet lag

    #875148
    yentingyenta
    Participant

    thanx e/o for your advice. is the first shift harder or the last before shabbos? and how much coffee did you drink to stay awake.

    rescue37, how did you prepare?

    takahmamash, the last course of my program is the pathways to practice/capstone course-culmination course of e/t we learned.

    golden mom, thats the part i’m most annoyed about cuz its most likely going to happen-my shifts are tuesday and wed night. the upside is its only for a few weeks (now. may end up on nights when i start working)

    #875149
    Health
    Participant

    hudi -“Sleep before.”

    Never slept before on the first nite.

    Next day I slept plenty.

    If it wasn’t that busy I’d go to sleep on a couch in a rec room.

    Best thing before you go to sleep is tell your handler I’ll be over ____ and call me if you need me. They usually won’t bother you. Even going to sleep betwen 3 & 6 makes a big difference the next day.

    #875150
    popa_bar_abba
    Participant

    My SIL doesn’t remember her log in info

    #875151
    yentingyenta
    Participant

    PBA, ok thanx anyways

    #875152
    marvafan
    Member

    I worked for many years the midnight shift for New York transit because taking off for Shabbot was a high seniority day. As a result the union made me a deal that I could take off Shabbot and in return work midnights. Interestingly while I worked midnights I never got in trouble even when I opened the doors out of the station or would drag an occasionial passenger. Then when I had enough senority to work days and get Shabbot off I got in some trouble and was forced to retire. You can read this story in more detail in the Pirkei Avot book being advertised on this website. the story is relelvent to the mishneh Perek 3 mishneh 6

    #875153
    marvafan
    Member

    When I used to work the midnight shift I had fridays shabbot off. That means when you work midnights that you are off three days and 2 nights. As a result I would finish Thursday morning meaning Shabbot was not any trouble. What was much more troubling was Motzei Shabbot when I would have to be wide awake. Anyway you learn and you survive. It may have helped also that I was younger but in any event the body will adapt

    #875154
    yentingyenta
    Participant

    T minus 3 hrs and counting… hoping this experience is as great as they say it is and the nights are worth it…

    #875155
    popa_bar_abba
    Participant

    My SIL says:

    Heres what I would post….

    First of all I LOVE the night shift! The day of my first shift I take an hour or two nap. And the next day if I am also working that night I sleep for around 6 hours. If I am not working that night than I usually sleep around 3-4 hours and than go to bed not that late that night. I usually work 2 in a row and than a 3rd later on in the week.

    This is a great schedule if you have kids, I send them off to school go to sleep and am up when they come home. I never have any issue getting back on a normal schedule!! Just don’t sleep a full nights sleep during the day when you are not working the next night. Some people have hard time sleeping, I use benadryl to help me sleep and my sister uses ambien, ask you doctor if you have a hard time sleeping during the day. I hope this helps!

    #875156

    *Poking yentingyenta*

    Yoohoo! Wake up, it’s morning!! How’d it go?

    #875157
    yentingyenta
    Participant

    hiya NOMTW. i LOVED it. really was WAY cool. but that may be the caffeine speaking. had 3 coffees last night. lets see how tonight goes before i decide i want to work nights

    PBA, plz tell your SIL thanx! i just got up from sleeping. hope its enough sleep to get me through the next shift

    #875158

    What do you like about it?

    Best of luck tonight!

    #875159
    YW Moderator-42
    Moderator

    Is anybody here staying up 3 nights in a row for Shavuos this year? I know people who stay up both nights so a good way to get a headstart on that is to stay up Friday night as well. Then good luck getting back to normal 🙂

    #875160
    Health
    Participant

    42 – Why should there be an Inyan to stay up Fri. nite?

    #875161
    YW Moderator-42
    Moderator

    No “inyan” really. Just that if you are going to stay up Saturday night, then you are going to want to sleep extra Shabbos afternoon so why not make up for that by staying up Friday night (learning or course)?

    #875162
    2scents
    Participant

    never knew that people have a hard time sleeping Shabbos afternoon, I can sleeo Fri night and then Shabbos afternoon as well! (add that Chulent, and there should be no problem at all)

    #875163
    takahmamash
    Participant

    Mod-42, there is no inyan to stay up both nights (all night) for Shavuot, since the second night/day apply only in ch”l anyway.

    #875164
    Health
    Participant

    takahmamash – Wrong. There is still an Inyan. The second day is the actual day of Kabbolas Hatorah. Also, the Masseh brought down in the Sheloh happened both nights.

    #875165
    yentingyenta
    Participant

    Hi NOMTW-last night was OK. very quiet. which on a hospital floor is a good thing. actually looking forward to next week instead of dreading the night shift! a gut shabbos e/o!

    #875166
    2scents
    Participant

    Ok, so I have been to two different hospitals already. I saw the ER nurses and he nurses on the ward I was as well.

    Did not see any name tag that said yentingyenta.

    #875167

    Glad you’re liking! The graveyard shift is probably a bit quieter since there are no annoying families and doctors there…no?

    #875168
    2scents
    Participant

    I think what she meant, was that there were less sick people.

    #875169
    yentingyenta
    Participant

    2scents and NOMTW, i meant both. nights are quieter because there are no visitors disturbing our work. and census was low. nights is mostly basic routine stuff unless there is an admission or emergency etc. also, that night had a low census-6 pts, 2 RN’s and 3 nursing students (myself, classmate and student from a dif school) and the pts were stable. this week can be very different-the census changes daily as well as staffing levels. this week i hope to get placed in the PICU (peds ICU) to get some experience there.

    im really tempted to bring a nclex review book this week w/ all the down time. might as well use it…

    #875170
    Health
    Participant

    Yenta – “or emergency etc.”

    Why would an emergency make a difference to a student? What can a nursing student do – are you even allowed to touch the pt. without the nurse giving the Ok?

    When I was doing an ER shift to become what I am now -there was this one Nurse who thought she was on top of the world. Nurses love to boss people around who they think they are on top of. I had some run-ins when I was a medic student. Anyways recently when I had down time in the ER -I’d like to start lines and do skills to practice. So she saw me and said “go start a line over there.” I said “fine.” I did it. Then later she said -“Aren’t you a Medic student?” (They had some Medic students once in awhile in that ER.) I said “No.” So she said – “Oh, I thought you were.” I said -“No problem -I like to keep my skills fresh.” She never said boo to me again except once.

    #875172
    2scents
    Participant

    Why not?

    There are standing orders, ptnt comes in with chest pain, vitals and eck are taken. Blood gets drawn and a line gets started.

    Only because she needs permission from the nurse, doesn’t mean she doesn’t do it.

    #875173

    Yenta:

    Oh wow, that does sound relatively calm. How is your body adjusting to Week 2? Feel a difference yet?

    Health:

    “When I was doing an ER shift to become what I am now”

    What is your profession? I’ve always wondered since you seem to know a lot about the medical field, but didn’t explicitly say either way…

    #875174
    yentingyenta
    Participant

    health, when i wrote “emergency” i didnt mean a trauma coming in to the er in Vtach. i just couldn’t think of the correct word i was looking for. and anyways, according to webster dictionary, an emergency is “an unforeseen combination of circumstances or the resulting state that calls for immediate action.” so under this technical definition, extreme pain or a temp of 102.9 needs a dose of motrin ASAP. last week our pts were low acuity so there were few things happening.

    2scents, that is correct. i dont know what the students in the ER are allowed to do but on my floor we can do most stuff w/o permission if the nurse is comfortable with us. some want to observe the first time. the one thing we always have to check are meds. we do 1 check alone, then 1 check with the nurse and sometimes a 3rd just prior before we give the med(s)

    NOMTW, i start my shift @ 7p tonight. will IY”H let you know how it goes. the first week was brutal on my body. i slept a few hours after my last shift and felt fine all day friday. came friday night…slept 12 hours straight-didnt wake up once in the middle. (that was more exciting than 12 hours-i have sleep probs s/times). NOW i’m back to my normal schedule….right before i have to mess it up again. but i’m not complaining. i really love it on the peds floor and i have a better appreciation of YOM MENUCHA 🙂 as i said all week “thank G-d for shabbos”

    bring on week 2. i plan on rocking it

    #875175
    2scents
    Participant

    In a different post, he posted that he wants was an EMT and a MEDIC.

    Joining Hatzalah

    however, all he said that now he has different hats in the medical field.

    #875176
    Health
    Participant

    No One Mourns The Wicked -“What is your profession? I’ve always wondered since you seem to know a lot about the medical field, but didn’t explicitly say either way…”

    There is a reason for my privacy. But since you don’t seem to think about privacy – what do you do & where do you work? What gender are you? How old are you? Where do you live?

    I Btw, have answered some of these in previous posts.

    #875177
    2scents
    Participant

    The difference is, that you constantly provide medical advice, anyone that disagrees with you gets pushed down as if your some medical professor.

    I think that it is more than reasonable to question ones certification, if he speaks with such authority.

    #875178
    squeak
    Participant

    Ah, but 2scents- he replies that way about any topic, not just medical ones. Just as he does not have to provide certification of authority when the discussion is about halacha or justice, he does not need to do so for medical topic.

    #875179
    2scents
    Participant

    Your right.

    However he uses the fact that he medically trained very often in his arguments. He should have the audacity to reveal his level of expertise.

    #875180
    squeak
    Participant

    It should make no difference what level of expertise he says he has.

    BTW, I am also medically trained. I have 40 years of ER experience, plus 40 years of neurosurgery, plus 40 years of podiatry, plus 40 years of cardio pulmonary, and 35 years of nephrology. I just choose not to wield my knowledge because I am too tired from all the night shifts.

    #875181
    yentingyenta
    Participant

    yups i was right. census was over doubled. i was in PICU but my nurse wasnt so great-so i floated w/ all the picu nurses. saw some firsts-saw some seizures so that was cool. he actually seized quite a few times last night. lets see what tonight brings-4hrs of sleep after a crazy night=going to need some help staying awake…coffee anyone?

    #875182
    Health
    Participant

    2scents -“However he uses the fact that he medically trained very often in his arguments. He should have the audacity to reveal his level of expertise.”

    I don’t have to reveal any more about myself because you don’t like my posts. I posted here many times that none of my opinions here should be considered as a professional opinion. If I was doing that I could charge and be open to liability.

    And btw, what medical degree do you have, if any? You seem to post your medical opinions here too. And you post like you are some sort of authority. What are you – a First Aider with 6 months experience?

    #875183
    Health
    Participant

    squeak -“plus 40 years of cardio pulmonary,”

    Just FYI, this would be a surgical specialty. In Medicine, these two are separate specialties.

    #875184
    Health
    Participant

    yenta -“he actually seized quite a few times last night.”

    So how did they treat it, if at all?

    #875185
    yentingyenta
    Participant

    My shift, the seizures were about 10-30 seconds max. He was s/p electrode placement prior to surgery to correct the problem. We did not gove meds; the seizures resolved spontaneously. Day shift reported increased frequency. Gave dose of Ativan. This shift the seizure activity is minimal. He is being monitored via video EEG.

    #875186
    Health
    Participant

    Yenta – Didn’t tell me how they are managing the airway.

    Anyway this is a good learning experience for you.

    Ask the pt’s nurse how she/he tells if the pt is in Status.

    Ask about all the different drugs they can and do use on Seizure pts. Ask about the different routes and how they are given.

    #875187
    yentingyenta
    Participant

    airway is maintained. Post seizure he gets o2 via face mask. Re meds not sure but do know his seizure meds were d/c’d to monitor site of seizure prior to surgery

    #875188
    squeak
    Participant

    Just FYI, not until recently are they 2 specialties. Back when I started, we had to specialize in both.

    #875189
    🍫Syag Lchochma
    Participant

    Squeak: I was so sure you were a twenty thirty year old!

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