How do you maintain health & frugality with shift work?
The other day, a reader left this comment:
One of the challenges of shift work, especially shift work with no regularity, is eating well and frugally. I’ve always found this difficult and no doubt many people struggle with this. So often I would swing from exhausted to rested….it got tricky to plan ahead. I’d be curious how other people deal with this frugally and healthily.
Having been a nurse for 25 years, I still haven’t completely succeeded in this realm. Having a family and sticking to those healthy work/eat/rest routines even when my personal routine is off is definitely helpful. I’ve also found it helpful to simply acknowledge this challenge and not just feel that I’m failing.
Any tips or things you’ve learnt?
I feel this in my bones! The irregularity of a nursing schedule is kind of wild to deal with.
And though I'm new to being a nurse, I will say that the two years of nursing school also had a wild and unpredictable schedule; every single week was different in some way.
(Which is, perhaps, a way of training us for hospital shift work life!)
One of the things that is hard for me is that I live in two different worlds. When I am in hospital world, I do almost nothing related to my non-hospital world, and obviously, the opposite is true.
So it's a very binary way of living; I am either in work mode or other-life mode.
This means it's really challenging to have any type of consistent daily habits.
For example, a healthy morning routine that would work on a non-hospital day is most certainly not going to work on a hospital day.
Or...I can work out on non-hospital days, but there is NO time to do that on a hospital day. I don't usually even find time to do my PT exercises on work days.
Note: before we get to how I manage, I do want to acknowledge that I am still quite a newbie to this lifestyle, so take my advice with a grain of salt.
I also want to acknowledge that this odd lifestyle is fairly manageable for me because my only kid still at home is 19! It would be far different if I still had small children at home.
Hospital Mode
My way of dealing with this is to expect myself to do little besides eating, working, and sleeping when I am in hospital mode.
In hospital mode, I:
- get up
- make breakfast
- pack my lunch
- go to work
- come home
- eat a quick bite
- shower
- go to bed
and repeat it all over again.
The main healthy thing I do in hospital mode: I prioritize sleep. I try to be in bed by 9:00 pm so that I have time for eight hours of sleep before my 5:00 am alarm.
The main frugal things I do in hospital mode: I eat breakfast at home before work, and I pack snacks and a lunch. This is also a healthy habit, because I make breakfasts, lunches, and snacks that include produce, protein, and whole grains.
And that's it for hospital mode. I put zero pressure on myself to do anything other than what I listed above.
Non-Hospital Mode
Laura Vanderkam often points out that you don't have to do something every single day in order for it to be a habit.
For instance, a person who goes for a run a few times a week is a runner, even though they don't run every day.
So, that's the attitude I try to bring to my non-hospital days. I can't do things seven days a week, but I can do them on my non-work days.
For instance, can I do a workout every day? Nope, but I usually can fit in 3-4 workouts a week.
Basically, when I'm not at work, I do all the things I don't have time for on work days.
I:
- go for walks
- do gym workouts
- grocery shop
- meal prep
- write blog posts
- do laundry
- clean my house
- do online schoolwork
When things go well, and I manage to use my non-hospital days wisely, I feel well-prepped to go back into hospital mode again.
I mostly get into trouble when I end up with a long string of shifts; for instance, sometimes I've done a three days on, one day off, three days on kind of thing, and woo, there is not enough time to rest and prep in the middle of that!
So, that's usually when things go off the rails a little more for me.
Also: if it's been a long string of shifts (especially night shifts), I usually take it a little easy on the first day off, and by the time 24 hours have gone by, I'm ready to get back into the swing of my usual productivity.
And on the sleep front, I try to maintain a semblance of a work sleep schedule even on my days off; I try to only vary my sleep wake times by maybe an hour.
Nothing is ever the same
Because no two weeks are the same, I have to maintain a rather flexible mindset about when I do things.
I do not have consistent workout days or grocery shopping days or cleaning days or laundry days or ANYTHING days!
I just do my best to fit in the healthy/frugal habits on my days off, no matter where they land in the week.
The routine-loving part of me that wishes I could establish something more consistent. But then I remind myself that I have been living like this for several years now, and I am making it work.
I manage to feed myself decently well, I fit in enough exercise, I maintain my blog, I get enough sleep, my house is decently clean, and so on.
Good enough is good enough, even if there's seriously no weekly routine!
And while I can't manufacture more hours in the day, I do optimistically hope that I will get even better at managing this lifestyle once I have more practice at it.
To sum it up:
- On work days, I do very little aside from working and prioritizing sleep/healthy food
- I take it kinda easy the first 24 hours after a string of shifts
- I fit healthy/frugal habits in on my days off
- There is nothing consistent about my weeks; I fit things in where I can, and I call it good enough
I know I am not the only one dealing with an inconsistent schedule, so:
Cheers to nurses and all of you working hours atypical to the "norm" in society and THANK YOU!
I related to your comment about your nursing school schedule training you for working life. It reminded me of when I was in my teacher prep program - a meta experience because they were teachers teaching us how to teach. So they consistently used best practices throughout the course and I truly lived and felt them, which helped embed them into who I am and how I approach teaching!
I remember reading once in an essay by M.F.K. Fisher that the best approach for feeding children is to shoot for averaging out their nutrition over the whole day, or even a few days. Not every meal will hit all the recommended servings of whatever, but if they get them over the course of a longer time period, that's good enough. Sort of like your weeks now. It all averages out.
I do not regret AT ALL quitting my part-time job at the school, largely because I can order my days with more regularity. I only worked two days a week, so I could do what I needed to do at home on my off days. It was the weeks when I was called in to su, too, and at school three or four days a week threw me off so much. If I was doing that every week, I would have figured it out, but not knowing and not being able to plan for it was very much against my personality. So I salute you and your going-with-the-flowness now, because I know it doesn't come naturally to you, either. 🙂
@kristin @ going country, *sub*
@kristin @ going country, I heard advice similar to MFK Fisher's when my children were young. I love it -- it takes so much pressure off! And I think it applies to far more than children's nutrition. But also, my children are 14 and 11 and I still think about it when they are eating junk. 🙂
@Meeghan,
My son was the pickiest of picky eaters as a young child....so much so that we had him evaluated by our local children's hospital's "food team". He is proof that a kid can grow and develop with a serious lack of fruits and vegetables in his diet (lol....though I don't recommend this approach). We had a wonderful pediatrician who put ZERO pressure on us as parents to "get him to eat" foods he absolutely would not try. DH and I did not make a big deal about food, either. Now, as a teenager, he is trying all different kinds of foods....he loves sushi, tries something new whenever we go to a Mexican restaurant...and even told me yesterday that, given the chance, he would try eating camel stomach (he had just watched some YouTube video about cultures that eat camel). I think MFK Fisher was on to something!
@kristin @ going country, Esteemed pediatrician T. Berry Brazelton said the same. He looked at what toddlers eat over an whole week rather than worrying about one day's intake, and it helped so many parents to relax and ease off the feeding pressure. His book, Touchpoints, is still a wonderful resource for parents.
My friend is a doctor. She does a lot of batch cooking and, like you, fits in the gym, seeing friends and 'real life' outside of that. I also want to echo Heather and thank you and other healthcare workers!
I have a more predictable schedule although it can vary from week to week. I generally advise people to see how their personality affects habits; ie, if you are not a morning person you are not likely to succeed at setting your alarm at 5 AM to get things done (you are likely to either hit snooze a million times or be like a zombie, going from personal experience). Personally, I dislike being given too much structure; meal planning makes me feel hemmed in and I'm not interested in going to the gym or for a run on the same day every week. I do want to eat healthily, exercise and save money though, so I try and identify days where a gym session or a run outside works, and try and think about what meal I want early in the day (otherwise I'm starving at dinnertime and don't know what I want).
Having said that, you have to work with the schedule you have. I am fortunate to live near a grocery store and a gym, so it's easy for me to fit those into my routine, and yet it's still frustrating for me to think about it last minute. If you live further away or have to balance childcare, that needs to be taken into consideration as well. You might be more of an afternoon person but that won't help if you're still at work or taking care of the kids at that time (although I would also say your partner should be doing their share if you are in a relationship!). Maybe waking up thirty minutes earlier would be doable, or skipping an episode of the show you're streaming if you need to plan or finish some things on the to-do list.
Finally, I would say a week where things go sideways or you don't get things done on the day you planned doesn't mean that you've failed or you can't do it - life happens and try and find a day where you can start over. I don't generally feel that kind of pressure but it's hard for me to want to get 'boring' things done (especially cleaning), so what motivates me is to think about how my future self will be happy if I get things done! For some reason I also feel more motivated if I physically write a task down and then can cross it out later. If things are super stressful at work I try and remember that it's not forever, it's just stressful right now. I also always reach out for help if I need it!
"I have to maintain a rather flexible mindset." Kristin, you are so right! I've struggled with being flexible--I'm the kind of person who loves a routine and does so much better when I can follow one--but working at being flexible has been the main thing that's made not having a weekly routine do-able.
To echo the other comments, thank you for being willing to have such a crazy schedule! I’m curious to know how your hospital does their scheduling? Do the people with more seniority get to pick first, or does everyone get whatever an arbitrary “scheduler” comes up with? Do you ever get to not be on night shift?
So, we all put in our ideal schedule each month, but we are required to sign up for a certain number of weekend shifts and also Mondays and Fridays (people like to have those off bc they butt up against the weekend).
And then the schedulers get to work seeing if our requests can all work, and they move us around as necessary to fill in gaps. Those of us that are the newest are the ones that get moved first. 😉
I have no experience here, but I am wondering why nurses' schedules need to be like this. Wouldn't it be better to work toward more irregularity. I can see that not having night shift ALL the time is probably better, but couldn't the schedules be consistent for a couple months at a time maybe? Or a month? Wouldn't that be less stress for the healthcare workers? Maybe shorter shifts?
@Jody S., I don't know about the changes in schedules, but I do know that the long (12 hour) shifts are to provide continuity of care for the patients. The riskiest time is shift change--information can be lost, and while the nurses are doing the hand off, patient care slows down temporarily. It's better if this happens just twice a day, rather than three or four times.
@Jody S., I think part of this comes down to needing 24 hour coverage, 365 days a year - almost no one wants to work every single weekend or holiday, so in order to spread that out, every week is a variable schedule for most. In my experience, most nurses work days or nights, but probably have to train on both early in their career.
Everyone else basically said what I would have said! The 12-hour shifts are for better continuity of care for sure.
And then the unpredictable days of the week are more for fairness. Everyone would love to work a three-day week that runs Tuesday-Thursday because then you'd have Friday-Monday off every week!
So we have to spread it around more to be fair. 🙂
@Karen A., my hospital works with a 3x8 schedule. Night and weekend and holiday pay more. We have nurses that do night shifts for 30 years, most Jewish personnel works on Xmas and such and take Jewish holidays off. People with young kids like to work nights, others work every weekend. I don’t believe you can stay sharp and fully engaged for 12 hours. Nursing is a very physical job.
Yes, 12 hours is a long day and caring for sick or injured people is stressful on mind and body. But I understand the need for crossover time so that one has some time to document and inform the next shift of what went on. And that 12 hours is the job. Then, the nurse has to drive to and home from work. Do they live nearby? or a distance away? It's a long day.
@Jody S., When I was in middle and high school, my mom signed up for a weekend only work schedule. In exchange for working every sat and sun, (24 hours), she actually got paid for 36. I think she had something like 2-4 weekends off a year due to vacation, but other than that, every weekend she was working. If a holiday fell on a weekend, she worked it. The benefits outweighed the negatives for our family.
@Bella, I think it's great that your hospital has adopted that schedule. My comment above was not at all meant to advocate FOR the 12 hour shifts, only to explain the rationale behind it, as explained to me from my instructors. I have a friend who has young kids and she had to take on nights because of no available childcare/"village", as she puts it, to watch them during the day. It's rough on her because it is 12 hour shifts. Agreed that it's a very physical job!
@Britta, Thanks, everybody. You helped me understand the situation better.
@Karen A., Good friend of mine worked as a social worker in risk management and says that in every study, stats show severe increases in patient safety/medical errors at the 9th hour of a nurse’s shift..increasing with each hour worked over 8.. 12 hour shifts have proven to be dangerous over all, and cost the hospitals money in malpractice claims but the hospitals do not feel the need to go back to 8 hour shifts for some reason.When I was a new nurse, we had 8 hour shifts and those worked so well for all the nurses.. you could pick the shift that worked for your family life..
I was able to go go the gym after work, or be home when the kids got home from school. The 3-11 nurses had easier times with childcare,sometimes spouses could cover. And there were always the owls who loved 11-7 AM shift.
Yes, staffing had to deal with 3 cohorts of nurses but it is safer for the patients AND the nurses.I hated when 12 hours came on board.. you can’ t have anything resembling a normal life on a 12 hour work day.
My OB unit asked to staff ourselves, to keep our 8 hour shifts going, and the hospital let us do that for 5 years till a large corporation took over the hospital
I think one of the most important ways to set yourself up for success is planning. On at least one of my off days I sit and look at my schedule, then I mesh that with a rough menu plan, make a grocery list, then post the menu on the fridge. All the mental work for that is done. The next day I might get all of my scrubs clean and hanging, prep my work tote. Then get gas in my car while I am out getting groceries. These steps help me on getting out of the door on time for work days and staying focused while at work. Some of your "free" time at home has to be dedicated to getting your ducks in a row. For me, it was easier with kids as that planning and prep was already a part of my life; I definitely involved them in this process. After a while you get into a groove and more efficient at it, then free time naturally happens.
Was I tired? Yes. Did I get it done anyway and manage to stay within a budget? Also yes.
@Gina from The Cannary Family, I tried, unsuccessfully, to relocate a PubMed article I read about this subject a long time ago that essentially said exactly what you say here. Basically, the only variable that seemed to improve outcomes (I think they were measuring cognitive performance and depression symptoms?) was having a plan. Didn't seem to matter what the plan was, but just that the participants had implemented some sort of strategy.
Since reading a newspaper item about the priorisation of sleep, by a personal trainer from Finland, I have started to work on this more than anything else. All other health-related habits stem from this or perhaps I should say contribute to this: eating light meals with plenty of fibre and nutritients - taking exercise - profiting from daylight and fresh air - taking micro (physical and mind) rests - reducing screen time - restricting intake of alcohol and cafeine - etc.
So your sleep priority makes total sense to me!
Note I read a book on the physiology of dreams last summer (no entertainment like improving one's understanding of a topic, for me) and it is downright Impressive how the brain does its soak rinse and repeat during the night!
O and I fortunately do not work shifts. Eldest does though, and during night shifts only works, eats, and sleeps.
@JNL,
Ha, the brain also does its reordering and cleaning up if you sleep during the day, fortunately!
That was my regular life betraying itself-
@JNL, We recently started making it a priority to get to bed before 9:30 and WHAT a difference it has made. I have far fewer headaches. We wake up earlier than we used to, which means I can get more done and greet the sunrise. If we're really on top of our game we manage to get to bed by 9 pm.
Yes, sleep is so essential, I am willing to drop almost everything else to prioritize it when I'm working!
Hello! Frequent reader, rare commenter here.
Thankfully I have more schedule consistency than this though I've found it helpful for me to realize that the usual margins in my schedule are small. Out of necessity, we run a tight schedule and a tight budget. That means its ok, expected and part of normal life if things get off course; car repairs, sickness, even happy things like birthdays or travel. I've learned I need to take a day off when its something I can foresee, like making a child feel loved on their birthday. And I've learned to give myself grace when things go sideways. I am also very careful not to over commit. In this season, my default position is "no". I will consider a "yes" but only very thoughtfully and realizing a "yes" to one thing means a "no" to something else that I usually prioritize.
I have a very regular schedule (and a 4yo) and still struggle to be consistent!
(On an unrelated note - am I the only one who can’t see the latest posts on your homepage? The most recent post showing there is from 31 Dec and to get to today’s, I have to click through to that post and then follow the “next post” prompts at the bottom of each post)
@Jules the First, that's not happening for me. I can see them all both on my computer and my phone.
I have ZERO idea why this is happening for some people and not for others and neither does my IT guy. I'm gonna get switched to an updated blog theme shortly and I am HOPING that it will fix the problem because we are stumped.
Jules, does this happen only on a mobile device or also on your desktop? Typically it's been happening on iphones and ipads.
@Jules the First,
I am now only getting the December 16th post on my Iphone, so have started to read the posts only on my computer since it is not practical to sort through all the posts to the current one. My computer is not an Apple product.
Almost everyone who has this problem is on an iPhone, but that is the only common factor I can find. It occasionally happens on my phone but not consistently enough to troubleshoot!
@Jules the First, Kristen I usually use Duck Duck Go for my browser and it is stuck on an Oct 27 post. If I want to see your recent posts I have to use Safari. This is on my mobile phone.
This is your phone browser?
If you clear the last 24 hours of your history, does it resolve?
@Jules the First, YES! My browser (Firefox) does this sometimes. I think it's related to cookies, as it fixes itself when I restart the browser. (Doesn't help to refresh the page, unfortunately.)
@Jules the First, if your iPhone/iPad - are you up to date on iOS/browser? That would be the first thing I'd ask if I were in IT (and I am in IT).
@Jules the First,
On my laptop posts from August come up. I use the Archives feature to go to the current month and then I can read the latest. I have Windows 11 and use Fire Fox as my browser. It's not a big deal though I don't have that trouble with other blogs.
@Kristen,
No idea what happened, but it’s now updating on the main page (cookies etc still intact - I did nothing except comment!). Yes, I’m running an iPhone 12 on iOS18.6.2, which I think is as up to date as I can. Using Safari as the browser. I (gasp) haven’t got a laptop of PC at the moment, but fwiw, it doesn’t seem to be happening on my other iPhone 12 which is running the same OS but using Microsoft Edge.
Something I found helpful early on in nursing was to think of my schedule on a three week cycle, because I worked every third weekend (usually as part of a 4 or 6 shift stretch), which predictably gave me an 8 day stretch off every three weeks. Even if it's not a weekly rhythm, it's possible to have a somewhat predictable schedule.
The thing is, you are at the least consistent stage of your career: new nurse, still studying, still working stuff out. You have to just take the shifts you are given, build up your experience and skills etc etc till you figure out where you ''fit'' in and what ultimately is workable for you longer term.
You may take a job in the future that has very few or no night shifts, or work only part time or be a travel nurse or some other combination of things. Nursing is such a varied profession and you could end up in a very specialised area (I've got friends who are paediatric oncology prescribing nurses within flagship hospitals, dermatology nurses in private clinics, theatre sisters in day hospitals, midwives who only do 2 shifts each week, always on nights, ICU nurses and an asthma specialist nurse in a day clinic (very regular 9-5 hours, weekdays).
One day, not long from now, you will be able to dictate at least somewhat what shift patterns you work!
A very helpful list! The one thing I would add is advance meal prep: cook a large batch of something (or several somethings), portion it out, and freeze it. Then you have your mail dish ready to grab, either for brown bagging or when too tired to cook.
A small suggestion. Don’t feel bad about saying a firm “no” to a future commitment, as it might be really inconvenient when it rolls around. Eg say you’re sorry but you can’t commit to baking for a cake sale, but can chip in for the ingredients for someone who has the time and inclination. Or decline a request from a distant relative / friend-of-a-friend to lodge with you for a week, but instead recommend a budget hotel. You are doing a very important job, and owe it to your yourself and your patients to be as rested and healthy as possible!
After I went back to college and finished it, we were in need of more income, pronto, so I took a quick job at retail in the capital city while I looked for a more suitable job nearer to home. Now, I'm back to working in the capital, but that's another story.
My schedule as a retail full-timer was to include 2 days off each week, a week being Sunday through Saturday, and I would have to close at least one night a week (which meant going in to work later on those days I closed), as this was a mall store. That didn't sound bad, until I found out they viewed each week's schedule as a stand alone schedule, with no reference to the previous week's schedule, so for example, I might be off work Sunday, work Monday, be off Tuesday, then work Wednesday straight through to the following week's Thursday (working W-Th-F-Sa-Su-M-T-W), be off Thursday, work Friday, be off Saturday and my next day off in the next week could be as distant as Wednesday or even Thursday. This type of scheduling happened several times. Those long stretches of straight days with only one day off before going back to work the next day nearly killed me. I also ended up closing two and three nights a week, as the part-timers were given choice in their scheduling, but not the full-time employees, and the part-timers rarely wanted to close. I never knew when my days off would be until the night before the Sunday starting the work week. I had an hour's commute each way. My kids were only 11 and 8 and my husband was working 60-65 hours a week. I only had to work this job two months, than heavens, before I found an 8-5, five days a week job in my own town.
So what I did in those two months of "hair on fire" scheduling: I had to streamline everything down to the absolute necessities. I started shopping for 2 or 3 weeks at a time when I grocery shopped, I menu-planned, I set up a chore chart for things my kids could do around the house, I prepped meals ahead for myself to cook or for my husband to cook when he got home on nights that I closed at the store, I cleaned only as much as I could do in a hour or two before I went to work or after I got home, as often as I could, did laundry by "most urgent" basis first, and dropped all outside activities. That life schedule wouldn't have worked for me long-term, but I've held onto some of those habits since, and they have definitely helped, especially when I was dealing with DH's many health issues while working these last few years.
Of all the things I do that are most helpful to me, at least, prepping food ahead has to be number one. I am not in the mood to cook most nights when I get home from work, so it will be already cooked and just needs to be reheated, or everything is ready to throw in a single pot, skillet or sheet pan and get it done without all that prep and clean up time. My Sunday afternoons normally have a designated time to cook or at least prep ahead. The other thing I do is plan any of the simplest meals, such as an omelet or sandwich-based meal, to happen on work nights. And always having home-cooked food planned means I also have lunches on the ready, because I almost always cook for four when I cook, and pack a lunch every evening before I put the leftover food away.
Yes, yes, exactly this is why I sometimes am working a long string of shifts. It's because sometimes the end of one week runs into the start of the next week!
Have you thought of using souper cubes (or some other freezer method) to make a whole bunch of meals to stockpile in the freezer? I only work 9 hour days and I am exhausted by the end and have no desire to cook so I made a bunch of individual portioned meals and can pull them out in a pinch.
I have seen those on social media! Do you find them to be worth the price?
@Kristen,
A friend has them and I don't consider them worth the price or storage. We use a mini loaf pan we already had and a muffin tin.
@Kristen, Speaking only for myself, I find any meal-sized container works. I like TellFresh because they’re highly space-efficient.
@Kristen,
I have them, use them and still wonder if they are worth the $$$$$$ price. If they cost $10 less each, I’d say definitely “yes.”
I've been lurking but not commenting the past few months, pregnancy has been difficult this last trimester. Near the finish line, though! I've been to the L&D floor several times for Non Stress Tests, but that does mean we've been getting to know many of the nurses who may be on shift when I do deliver, so that is a silver lining.
Hope everyone had relaxing and as-luxurious-as-frugally-permitted holidays 😉
Kristen, I would love to hear how you spent your fun budget the past two months if you're up to it! It's my new favorite series 🙂
Umm...I bought a car. lol That was my fun money purchase for November and December.
I will get back on track with smaller purchases this month so look for a January report in about a month!
@Kristen, haha very fair, hopefully the joy of the dream car will last for many months!
I haven't weighed in on this issue because, for me, it's never been an issue: One of the many advantages I enjoyed as a telecommuter was being able to set my own hours. As long as I was putting in 40/week, it didn't matter when.
But I doff my cap to Kristen and everyone else out there who is doing shift work at oddball hours. Our world needs you all.
@A. Marie, appreciate the shout out but I am not so sure people need to be buying a pack of gum with his/her debit card OR paying a friend via Zelle/Venmo for a latte at 3 am.
Are hospital nurses with small children who rely on partners or parents to do childcare not allowed to work only certain days a week with regularity?
Will you ever be able to have a consistent schedule on your floor? With travel nursing contract?
I'm exhausted just reading. Going back to bed now....
I can relate. After 31 years I am tired! But I will say that my hospital days are way in the past. On those hospital days I was 22 and new grad. I ran circles around other nurses. What really helped me was that they were 8hr shifts. Game changer. As I left floor nursing 12 hr shifts came into play and I just did not have the stamina to work those long hours. So I pivoted to clinic nursing and I am now a school nurse. So now I am able to sit most of the day and at this point in my career I am blessed. When I was raising my girls in my 30-40 I still had great stamina. But the key for being rested was getting a lot of sleep.
When I worked as a nurse call operator, I was on a 7on, 7off work schedule. By that 7th work day I was dragging but I didn't have to be on my feet. It was quite a challenge to keep the patients happy and the nurses happy at the same time.
Oh my, 7 in a row sounds so hard!
I have mostly worked nights for the last almost 6 years. I know myself well enough to make sure I get enough sleep when I'm working nights....although caffeine does help. I do find myself turning to fast food more often than I should. On my days off I usually try to keep a "normal" schedule ie staying up during the day.
I prepare taxes and during that time period can average 60-70 hours a week. I prioritize sleep (I take a nap after lunch) and hydration (water, gaterade packets.) My meal planing includes freezer assets, homemade meal kits, and bag salad. I eat broccoli and greens with my eggs for breakfast to stay ahead of any health problems. I have also eaten eggs and pancakes for dinner. The reality of life. Kristen has taught me a lot.
When my kids were young, I would work 3-1130pm 5 days in a row which meant getting about 4-6 hours a sleep on those days. That first day off was a reset day; a pajama day. It was certainly needed.
I am the opposite of you in the workout department. I get up early so I CAN work out on the days that I work. It needs to be done in the morning, or it doesn't happen. I also get up early enough that I can accomplish one 15-20 minute chore (empty dishwasher, or hand a load of laundry) But I work days and I know working nights is a whole other animal. Some of my night nurses actually workout after work.
@Joyce,
I used to work 12 hour day shifts in a level 1 trauma ICU and go to aerobics afterward. I am not sure how I did it!
I bow in awe of your past self!
Hi everyone ! I’ve mostly done 12-hour shift work except for a period where I did “normal” 9-5 days. Those were nice because at least everything was predictable and I could schedule in more hobbies and social events.
For my 8a- 8:30 pm shifts I mostly pack all my meals and eat all of them at work. I tend to work less Sundays, so that is when I’ll generally batch prep. I usually do a “mix and match” prep- ie: a protein, some roasted greens, a carb and store it in giant stashed bags so I can just scoop them out easily during the week. I also then package up two days worth of meals in containers so I’m good until midweek when I do it again for the rest of the week. I also will throw random meals prepped into containers in my freezer for weeks when things are tough or when I get home from a trip so I’m not too tempted to order in at work!
When I was a new nurse in a small community hospital, I was an icy nurse, we only had 12 beds. Our schedule was greatly varied and as the new nurse, I got the shifts that no one else wanted. Fast forward to the last 10 years, I worked in the largest trauma hospital in the region, I preferred trauma icu and specialized in burns and gsw. I also worked weekends and holidays by choice. Because the hospital was so far away, I rented a room from a family friend.
I am now paying it forward with helping the young farming family across the road. They have 5 littles, she is a nurse, he works a mgmt job and I help out. I'm part of the village!
There are so many choices in nursing, clinic work, dnp, fnp, nurse mgmt, endless possibilities.
I still batch cook, freeze and build kits based on pantry reserves. I love my instapot. We love our salads and I batch those as well, if there is leftovers, it goes into veggie soup.
When all else fails, fried rice, lo me in or fritatta. Keep it easy, prioritize sleep, I take Vitamin D, B complex and magnesium and hydrate.
My gym friend says I only need to workout 3 circuit days to gain strength, 2 to maintain. I yoga in the mornings.
Two things that are currently saving me with shift work:
1 - I wake up at the same time every day. I used to sleep in on non-work days, but right now 6am every day is working well for me. This does mean that one day a week the dog doesn't get a morning walk - but she seems to be surviving okay ?.
2 - Work lunches are ALWAYS the same. Work dinners come from the freezer. My work days are in clumps so I meal prep all my meals the day before the clump. There is no creativity. Lunch is a simple protein and fresh fruits and veggies - almost always finger food. I've invested in SouperCubes trays and every couple months fill my freezer with frozen meals or meal components. I pull what I need from that stash at the same time as I make my lunches. Because of this routine, I can generally do 4 days of meal prep in less than an hour. Also, at this point in my life, most of my frozen meal components come from Costco, so what could be a solid day of meal freezing actually only takes me an afternoon.
Actually, I think you're doing a terrific job of balancing life, considering all the factors you have to adapt to.
Only one thought: why not stash 4 or 5 dinners in the freezer, so you can pull them out when needed -- or to take to work? (Or even -- gasp -- buy some.) Making double or triple should do it, even for your favorite: blueberry pancakes. (They freeze well, too.)
This is more about organisation. I realised it when I had been faithfully cutting up the last potatos from the bag, cubed them, set the pot on the stove - and fell asleep in front of the TV.
The next day I bought a 10,- Ricecooker, that would have done the task unattended, no smoke, no harm.
I highly recommend outsourcing some tasks to appliances, and better yet, time programmed ones.
For people living in multiplexes, working odd shifts or for a different timezone employer, there may be limitations when to use washing machines, even dishwashers.
I do not have this problem personally, but we have some solar (cheap), but not sufficient
power storage yet (not cheap enough - yet). So it totally makes sense to load the washer (ours has it own timer), the dishwasher etc.and set a timer for later when appropriate.
(load by night, wash by daylight)
Just buy a timer, if the appliance does not have it, it will pay of in no time. Your time, that is.
So, I love things that do their thing without me watching them 🙂
We have a small vacrobby too, it does not everything, but holds the line.
Foodwise: know what you want and will eat and keep your freezer stacked. I love throwing prepped vegs and some protein in the Instantpot and call it a meal when I am not at my best.
IMHO, inconsistent work schedules ultimately take a toll on the body, and a hospital that has inconsistent work schedules for essential staff is understaffed.
I saw the toll it took on my daughter as a medical resident with a wildly inconsistent schedule and sometimes 24 hour shifts. Medical residents often have a lot of charting to do after their official shift, they need to prep for rounding their patients in the morning, and then they need to study for boards. They get little sleep, and it's really hard to get in everything needed to keep the body healthy. Many of them rely on candy and coffee to stay alive during their grueling shifts. There's not an easy way around this for medical residents, compounded by the fact that many resident programs manage to thwart the 80 hour/week limit one way or another. I've been watching the video blog of an anesthesiology intern who really makes effort to have a healthy lifestyle, get in a lot of exercise and good nutrition, tries to get decent sleep, but he is clearly feeling the effects despite his best efforts.
For nursing, it would make so much sense to give nurses consistent schedules. Life is a lot easier if you know you are always working night shift on these three days a week, or day shift on these. Switching between days and nights is particularly hard on the body. It makes more sense to hire nurses and allied health staff as the "night shift on these days" or "Day shift on those days"--not both. Consistent staffing makes more cohesive teams, as well. Doing the occasional odd shift to cover someone's absence makes sense (they really should have floats to do that!), but a consistently inconsistent schedule is not in the best interests of anybody in the long run.
Here in Arizona, my nursing friends (I am a RETIRED RN /NP) are hired for EITHER days or nights,they do not have to cover both. That’s so unhealthy. I hope your hospital makes a change or that you find a steady day shift situation soon! (If that is a goal,I mean..) I seriously could never do night shift: migraines, nausea, just awful health consequences..luckily I was always able to find Day shift work.
Good for you for all the ways you make it work.AND, it is your first year full time.. over time it’ll all fall out the way it needs to!
How’s your BSN going??
Happy New Year!!
I'm on a BSN break right now! I start back up in a few weeks. But hopefully this class will not be as terrible as the last one.
I have an incredible better half - who can cook and grocery shop. Now we split most cleaning chores but when the kiddos were growing up, chores were seasonal. Both of us hands on with our kids (he could do cloth diapers). When the kids got older, they pitched in. I have worked in IT for almost 48 years, it is not a M-F 8-5 job by any means. Once older kiddo got a DL, they did the grocery shopping during the summer. And could start the crock pot when need be.
So perhaps Zoe could fill in a bit of the gap - I know she works and goes to school.
I am a night owl, better half is not. That also probably helped. And when the kids were younger, my mom could pick up from school if one became ill and stay until I got home.
You'll find your groove - you're still new to the game so to speak. I do agree with the posters that suggest some batch cooking for the freezer. My dad does this (he's closer to 90 than 80 and sibling and I are glad he's self-sufficient). Setting out a container or two of soup, goulash, mac-n-cheese et al will help night shift Kristen.
I love this post, and fully agree with you. I am in a different situation in that I'm a teacher- but I teach at a hybrid school, so I only actually go into work 2.5 days a week. But, just like you, I've learned that I can't do anything except work, eat and sleep on my 2 full work days. That's it. I need a lighter day on the half day, too. So then I try to build my habits on my home days (although I'm still homeschooling my kids on those days, soooo... *shrugs*). I love your point about a habit still being a habit, even if we don't do it every single day. Thanks for sharing your tips!
Oh wow! It sure was lovely to find my comment being used for a post. Thankyou @Kristen! And thankyou to everyone for your advice, experience and suggestions. Its so nice to be able to talk through this shift work gig. Even 25 years in I feel like I'm still learning. Sorry I couldn't chime in sooner... shift work... haha.
Batch cooking is a thing at our house - either meals (I always cook double or triple and freeze the leftovers) or batch cooking certain parts of a meal eg meat, veggies that can be cooked and frozen or prepped and frozen. Even when I'm not on shift work, I find that I prepare more complete meals if some of it is prepped ahead of time. eg knowing that my meat is done allows me to spend some time on a salad or cut veggies or an extra veggie side.
This past year I started work at a different hospice and am soooo thankful for the schedule we have. Its a waterfall schedule (so the fulltime RN's and PN's do 2 days, 2 nights, 5 off). As a part timer I have the one day part-time line. So I work 2 days, 7 off. Its just lovely! And since I'm not job-sharing, I don't even have to cover when the night part-timer takes time off. I can plan my life a year in advance! Every year the RN's move ahead 2 days and the PN's move back a day - so this means that we don't end up always working with the same person. We also have 1 or 2 PSW/HCA's on each shift. 10 beds. Its a great gig! I do pick up shifts here and there just to supplement - but always days. Just done with night shifts in the last while... its too hard with family and I kept having sleep paralysis post night shifts ... which felt really scary.
I try to put together a menu plan every week, and ensure meals for the family and organized. Basically everything else happens on the days I'm not working. On the days I work its sleep, eat, work, and love my family as much as I can. I find that if I can make sure to spend even a few minutes of QT with each family member of those shifts, everyone is happier. One thing about a Mum working is that everyone is impacted by my schedule... so I try to be very aware of that. My 8 year old just needs some really long extra hugs, my 11 year old needs me to be a bit crazy with her, my husband needs me to make his coffee in the morning before I leave.
Sorry this is an incredibly long blurb. Clearly this post has been therapy for me. And I thank you @Kristen and everyone else!
I don't work shifts, so I'll leave that to others. This is just to say--you've got great legs! slim & strong lifting that weight plate; you go, girl! And we'd love a pic of you in your new Honda instead of your minivan 😉 Glad you're taking care of yourself and enjoying learning how to live with your new schedule. and yes, sleep is imperative, as is a healthful diet. And if you can get 8hrs sleep by going to bed at 9 & up at 5, you seem a lot like me. My family laughs at how fast I can fall asleep but it's a skill 🙂
Haha, aww, thank you!
I also can fall asleep in less than five minutes, especially after a work shift. 🙂
I've read a lot, but not all of the responses. I'm a factory worker who works shift work. My shift rotates, but there is a set pattern. I work 7 straight days, w so many days off based on the shift I just got off. I have one long weekend off a month.
They are set 8 hour shifts. Though, I do get scheduled the occasional OT shift, which means I work 16 hours straight.
I find that depending on the shift depends on how much or the minimum of what I'm able to do. I try to prep veggies once or twice a week. I'll cook a protein or two and make different meals. Every time I cook, I prep a couple into meal containers. So I can pack for work. 8 keep a couple freezer meals and some snack foods(like kind breakfast bars and peanut butter crackers)at work. Because, it's a hot place to work, especially in the summer. We always have access to fridges, microwaves, water bottles and electrolyte drink mix packets. There are snack and soda machines. But, I always try to bring stuff everyday. I have an insulated lunch bag that can usually hold a couple meals and snacks.
For instance this past week I browned 2 lbs of ground beef. I split it in 2 different containers. I added chili powder and cumin to one. I've made tacos, nachos, spaghetti sauce w roasted tomatoes, bell peppers, and onions. I was thinking about making a small batch of chili w what is left of the ground beef. I only had to pickup some salad mix. I had everything else at home. I did pickup some bananas and apples for snacks. I like to prep oatmeal in the fridge for when I work days.
For afternoons I go in at 2p. I get home around midnight. So those are usually my more relaxed/do the minimum days. I can usually make/eat a simple brunch.
Days are like normal shifts for most people, though I go in at 6a. Home around 4p.
Midnights I go in at 10p. Home around 8a. I try to go to bed then, so I can get up for closer to a normal day.
I try to schedule appointments around days off or after a scheduled shift.
I try to prioritize sleep and eating decently. If work is busy I get a lot of steps in. I try to move and do simple wall and chair exercises, and simple stretches at work.
I try to do things with my daughter, friends, or family, a couple times a month. Depending on my schedule and time of year depends on what we do.