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hat do
doctors, nurses, firefighters, truck drivers, and air traffic controllers
all have in common? Many of them work night shifts. Whether you are an early
riser or a night owl, working shifts at night can be challenging. We have
compiled some tips to help you cope with working into the late and early hours
of the day.
Share on PinterestNight
shifts can prove challenging for the body and mind, but there are steps that
you can take to help you cope better.
Due to our modern 24-hour
society, nearly 15 million Trusted Sourcepeople in
the United States work full-time night shifts, evening shifts, rotational
shifts, or other such irregular schedules. What is more, almost 19 percent of
adult workers work for 48 hours or more every week, and more than 7
percent work for 60 hours or more each week.
Shift work and long working
hours have been linked to a number of health
issues, according to the National Sleep Foundation. These include an increased
risk of metabolic problems, heart disease,
gastrointestinal difficulties, obesity, and certain cancers.
Night shift work may also
interfere with the body's ability to repair DNA damage that occurs from normal
cellular processes. The suppression of melatonin — which is the hormone
responsible for regulating the internal body clock — may play a role.
Individuals need to
work through the night for numerous reasons. Finding ways to cope can be the
difference between living a healthy existence and being subjected to the many
health and safety risks that are elevated during night shifts. Here are Medical News Today's coping
strategies for working after dark.
1. Manage sleep patterns
Some people can work
at night with no problem at all, while others experience sleep deprivation and fatigue. This is because the human body is designed to sleep
at night-time.
Share on PinterestEnsure
that your bedroom is dark, quiet, and cool to promote better sleep.
The human body is
controlled by an internal body clock, or circadian pacemaker, which is located
in the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) of the hypothalamus. The SCN generates
circadian rhythms, which regulate behavioral and physiological processes in the
body, including alertness, sleep, temperature control, and hormone production.
Circadian rhythms run in
24-hour cycles and are significantly influenced by the natural light and dark
cycles. Many of the processes in your body that are active in the daytime
slow down at night to prepare you for sleep. At night, the circadian pacemaker
releases the sleep hormone melatonin from the pineal gland, which causes you to
feel less alert and raises your desire to sleep.
Night
shifts cause you to battle against your natural rhythms by trying to be alert
when you are programmed to be sleeping. Similarly, when you go home after a
night shift, the cues from your internal body clock and daytime light exposure
tell you to be awake and active.
Adults need between 7 and 9 hours of sleep to function at
their best. If you sleep for under that amount, you will incur "sleep
debt." The only way to pay back sleep debt is to catch up on sleep you
have missed, and this has to occur as soon as possible after it is incurred.
Working at night involves
successfully managing your sleep during the day — that is, to keep sleep debt
to a minimum — and your fatigue during the night. Daytime sleep can be lighter,
shorter, and of poorer quality than sleep at night due to light, noise, and
temperature.
Try these steps to keep
your sleep in check and make your environment more favorable for sleep.
- Do not delay going to bed. The longer you delay going to bed, the more awake
you are likely to become.
- Try to set aside a block of 7
to 9 hours to dedicate to sleep after
a night shift.
- Have something to eat and
drink before you go to bed. Pangs
of hunger or thirst may wake you up.
- Avoid alcohol before you try
to sleep. Alcohol may help you to
fall asleep, but it diminishes sleep quality and disturbs the deep stages
of sleep, which will leave you feeling unrefreshed the next day.
- Avoid smoking before bed. Nicotine is a stimulant and can therefore cause
you to experience difficulties in getting to sleep.
- Stay away from activities
that make you feel more alert until
the hours before your next shift.
- Make sure your bedroom is
quiet, dark, and at a comfortable temperature. Use earplugs to block out daytime noise and
blackout curtains to prevent daylight entering the room. Electric fans can
be useful to keep air circulating and provide neutral background noise.
- Notify friends and family of
your working hours so that they do not
disturb you.
If this is your last shift
in a block of night shifts, remember that the more days in a row that you have
been working through the night, the more sleep debt you will likely have
accrued. Repaying some of the sleep debt that you accumulate as quickly as
possible will help you to recover sooner.
2. Control light exposure
Exposure to light cues
chemical events to be triggered by the circadian pacemaker that affects your
sleep and wake cycles. For example, melatonin is released as it gets dark in
the evening to make you feel drowsy, while melatonin is suppressed
and cortisol elevated by the morning light to make you feel more
awake.
Share on PinterestWear
sunglasses on your journey home to suppress light exposure.
Artificial light can affect
your circadian pacemaker in the same way as sunlight, and timed exposure to
bright light can help to alter your body's sleep cycle.
During
night shifts, you can try to "trick" your body into an alert state
with exposure to bright light, and promote sleep by suppressing light exposure
after your shift.
ResearchTrusted Source has shown that night workers who
were exposed to bright light during their shift and wore sunglasses on the way
home to suppress light drifted off to sleep quicker and slept for longer after
their shift than people who received no bright light exposure. Furthermore,
another study found that intermittent
exposure to bright light is almost as effective as continual exposure.
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Beware of exposure to blue
light emitted from digital devices, such as your smartphone, tablet, or
television, before you go to bed after a night shift. Research has suggested
that blue light knocks our circadian rhythms off-kilter,
which signals to your brain that it is daytime and results in poorer sleep quality.
Ways that you can control
your exposure to light include:
- increasing bright light
exposure during your shift with
regular overhead lights or a bright desk lamp or lightbox
- wearing sunglasses on your
journey home
- using blackout blinds,
curtains, or drapes or a sleep mask to
block out daylight in your bedroom
- not watching TV before you go to bed
- switching off digital devices
situated in your bedroom,
including powering down tablets and computers, putting your phone away,
and blocking light from bright alarm clocks
Keeping your bedroom dark
will help to keep your body in sleep mode until it is time for you to wake up
and begin your day.
3. Watch your diet
When typical daily rhythm
is thrown off balance, so too is metabolism. Night shift workers are more likelyTrusted Source to experience metabolic
syndrome and have a 29 percent increased risk of becoming
overweight or obese due to poor diet and the disruption of the body clock.
Planning your meals can
help you to stay alert during your working hours and be more relaxed when you
need to sleep.
Share on PinterestTake
healthful foods and snacks to work to both keep you alert and prevent obesity.- Try to stick to a
similar eating pattern to
the one that you would follow during the daytime.
- Eat frequent light meals or
healthful snacks to avoid the drowsiness
that is associated with heavy meals.
- Choose foods that are easy
for your body to digest,
including bread, rice, pasta, salad, milk products, fruits, and
vegetables.
- Avoid foods that are difficult
to digest, such as fried, spicy, and
processed meals.
- Steer clear of sugary foods. Although they provide a short-term energy boost,
this is quickly followed by an energy dip.
- Snack on fruits and
vegetables. Sugars from these are
converted slowly into energy, and they are an important source of vitamins, minerals, and fiber.
- Keep hydrated while you are working to promote physical and
mental performance, but do not overload the bladder with fluid before bed.
Access to the grocery store
and adequate facilities to prepare food can be hard for night workers. Be
prepared and take food to work to ensure that you eat properly and stay alert.
4. Take a nap
Taking a nap can become an
essential element of working safely overnight. While a short nap before you
start your shift can help to combat fatigue, a nap during your break may be
vital for maintaining alertness and remaining vigilant.
Share on PinterestTake
a 45-minute nap during your break to help you feel refreshed and to restore
brainpower.
A
nap taken midway through the day has been shown to boost and restore
brainpower. Even naps of 20 to 45 minutes in length have
proven beneficial for shift workers to counteract fatigue.
Ideally, your night shift
naps should not exceed 45 minutes. Sleep is comprised of different stages,
which complete in cycles of between 90 and 100 minutes. One sleep cycle runs
from light sleep to deep sleep.
Be careful about how long
you nap for in order to ensure that you do not wake up during deep sleep. Deep
sleep waking is associated with greater sleep inertia, meaning that you will
take longer to feel alert and will not feel refreshed.
5. Use caffeine wisely
Caffeine is a stimulant.
When used carefully, your daily dose of coffee can help you to remain alert throughout a shift.
However, improper use can cause gastrointestinal upsets and muscle shakes.
Share on PinterestSmall
regular doses of caffeine can enhance wakefulness and help you to perform
better.
Most people take a
huge dose of coffee at the start of their shift in order to jump-start their
day. However, researchTrusted Source suggests
taking a different approach to maximize the effects of caffeine for shift
workers.
Workers
that consumed smaller — equivalent to quarters of cups of coffee — and
more frequent doses of caffeine throughout their day experienced enhance
wakefulness, performed better on cognitive tests, and had fewer accidental naps
than those who had had no caffeine.
Some evidenceTrusted Source suggests that the effects of
caffeine kick in after around 20 minutes, and that a small dose of caffeine
before a nap can counter the sleep inertia you may experience after you awake.
Caffeine use should be
stopped around 6 hours before bedtime to ensure that
the stimulant does not affect your sleep.
Every person is different,
so finding the right combination of techniques that suit you best may take
time. Applying some of the above strategies may help you on your way to coping
better with working at night and ensuring that you get the right amount of
sleep to function properly.
Written
by Hannah Nichols on October 30, 2017 - Fact checked by Jasmin
Collier
