wha?

[madshutterbug]

I am tired. Just woke up after post-night-shift nap. First of all, not a bad night, just busy enough to help me stay awake with some success. No moments of terror driving home wondering if I were nodding off behind the wheel. Then, I slept almost two hours longer than I usually do after arriving home.

This, however, doesn't change the Still Feel Groggy and Tired condition. I suppose this is actually reassuring somewhat.

On the agenda for Groggy & Tired day is laundry and hopefully some photography in Studio. Nothing strenuous. Nothing exciting.

Comments

[trillium-flower.livejournal.com]

I too am stuck on graveyard for the summer. It's a little like being jetlagged for weeks on end. I sleep but it's not the sleep that you get at night. I tend to fall a lot which only happens when I'm on grave. And my vit D level is approximately 0. On the other hand I get a lot of christmas presents knitted and I spend a LOT less money because nothing is open when I'm awake.

[madshutterbug.livejournal.com]

Being on graveyard is one thing, and yes if one can't switch their circadian rhythms sleeping becomes an exercise in deprivation. I used to work graveyard by choice, when I started in Nursing and much younger than I am now. At some point my body informed me it no longer held any interest in a circadian rhythm which did not match the daylight hours = awake method.

What I'm doing now is rotating shift. Mostly I work Days, 07:00 - 15:30. Hospitals do not close for nights or weekends. We are required to work a set number of weekend shifts to cover. Thing is, where I work the Weekend Day shifts are mostly covered by people who do every weekend to leave week-days free for things like school. Even weekend Evening shifts are covered this way. This leaves only the Night shifts.

So, five weeks out of an eight-week schedule period, I work one graveyard shift. One. No chance at all to even attempt to convince ones body to try changing up the circadian.

On the other hand, Gainful Employment is Good.

[trillium-flower.livejournal.com]

I'm a police/fire dispatcher so someone always has to be here. We rotate every 3 months so you *almost* get your rhythms switched over and then have to work a different shift. In the winter it isn't so bad because its dark most of the time, the summer months seem to cause me more problems. But yes employment is a good thing, I have become quite accustomed to electricity.

[madshutterbug.livejournal.com]

Oh, yes. The things many (most?) people don't think about which must be available 24/7. Public Safety (Police/Firefighters). The people who tell the Public Safety where there is an immediate need (You!). Electricity itself, so yes, yes. And Hospital, particularly but certainly not exclusively Emergency Departments, Surgery (my own), and Patient Care.

At that, I'm sure I've left something off the list. *G*