I've been working nights almost the entire time I've been a nurse. I always said I'd work nights forever but this little thing called insomnia turned out to be a pretty big deal, and I've been working days for 3 weeks now and I feel like I have a new job.
I said repeatedly that I felt like switching to day shift would make me like my job less, and my time off more. I was right about the time off, but what's been a pleasant surprise is that I was dead wrong about the job. I am so much happier! I feel much more helpful and effective as a nurse when my patients aren't absolutely exhausted and would rather sleep than hear any advice I've got to give on getting through labor.
My kids are happier too. The older kids have both commented that I seem to be happier, and I feel like it's true. I love that my days off are actually days off - I'm not spending every second of my time at home trying to catch up on sleep. I got up this morning and went to the store to buy a couple of items we needed, and although I'm not a big fan of Walmart, that's what was open at 6:30 this morning and you know, at that hour Walmart isn't bad. The shelves were stocked, the lines were short, the parking lot was nearly empty. I was home by 8AM and have made cookies, washed laundry, given myself a manicure, and spent plenty of time playing with the kids, snuggling Kid4, and trying (unsuccessfully) to convince her that Tummy Time is not the Worst Thing Ever.
Added bonus - In the 4 years since I graduated nursing school, I've gained a lot of weight. Which is partly to do with the two pregnancies since then, but it turns out that maybe some of it was working nights, too. In the 3 weeks since I started sleeping every night and not eating "lunch" at 2am, I've lost 8 pounds - enough to encourage me to try to lose a little more. I didn't do anything to lose those 8 pounds, except not work nights! Score!
