Caffeine Free in Med 3

Hours Part I

I've been a med 3 for almost 6 months now, but I still don't understand how to 'fix' my sleep cycle when on call or late shifts. They both have different issues, but today I will address the much friendlier topic of trying to work the 11pm-7am shift.

Let me start with a short story about my previous life as a nurses aide at an assisted living home. During my last month in college, all of the 11-7 workers were fired and I was asked, as a part time aid, to fill in. So I found myself with a schedule that looked something like
11-7am - work 8am-12noon - class 12noon-4 - sleep 4-7 - track practice/dinner 7-10 - sleep

Up until med 3, that was probably the longest month of my life because I had no schedule to regulate my sleep cycle. I was constantly falling asleep all over the place because I was still trying to maintain a daytime existence. It was less dangerous than the time I did 11-7am without sleep and fell asleep while driving multiple times, but it still wasn't fun.

So three years later, I'm still trying find a way to convince my body that it needs to be awake for that night shift. While not the supreme test of endurance of call, it is still pretty difficult to achieve. The anticipation of the night is much harder on you then the actual event - i.e. - trying to sleep for the second time during the day so your body thinks it is the middle of the day at night. I find I'm most functional if I make an effort to sleep about noon-five.

Yeah, that post was not all hospital related. The next one will be.

posted by Allie @ 3:58 PM