Free planner · first-year nurses
Sleep well between night shifts.
Put in your shift, your drive, and how much sleep you need. You get a day-by-day plan for the whole stretch of nights, built on federal (NIOSH) training for nurses who work nights and sleep-medicine guidance.
Your stretch of nights
The plan adds 30 minutes for report and charting after the shift, and has you arriving 15 minutes early.
Your plan
One protected block of 7.5 hours after every night.
Night 1 starts
- Normal night’s sleep: 11:30 PM–7:00 AM
- Nap before night 1: 3:45 PM–5:15 PM
- Night 1: 7:00 PM–7:30 AM
Between nights 1 and 2
- Night 1: 7:00 PM–7:30 AM
- Main sleep after night 1: 8:30 AM–4:00 PM
- Night 2: 7:00 PM–7:30 AM
Between nights 2 and 3
- Night 2: 7:00 PM–7:30 AM
- Main sleep after night 2: 8:30 AM–4:00 PM
- Night 3: 7:00 PM–7:30 AM
Switch-back day
- Night 3: 7:00 PM–7:30 AM
- Short recovery sleep: 8:30 AM–12:00 PM
- Back on a normal night: 11:30 PM–7:00 AM
- Normal night’s sleep11:30 PM – 7:00 AM
- Nap before night 13:45 PM – 5:15 PM
- Main sleep after night 18:30 AM – 4:00 PM
- Main sleep after night 28:30 AM – 4:00 PM
- Short recovery sleep8:30 AM – 12:00 PM
- Back on a normal night11:30 PM – 7:00 AM
Caffeine until 2:30 AM
Use it early in the shift, then stop about 6 hours before you plan to sleep. In a sleep-lab study, caffeine taken 6 hours before bed still cut sleep by about an hour.
Bright light 7:00 PM – 1:00 AM
Keep the first half of the shift brightly lit, where your unit allows. Light late in the shift pushes your body clock the wrong way for daytime sleep.
Dark glasses at 7:30 AM
Very dark or blue-blocking sunglasses on the way home keep morning light from waking your body clock. Skip them if you are very sleepy and driving yourself. Keep the bedroom dark, cool, and quiet.
Main meal before you leave
Eat your largest meal before the shift and keep food light between midnight and 6 AM. Pack it so the vending machine is not the plan.
Back to nights' sleep by 11:30 PM
On the switch-back day, sleep only a few hours in the morning, get outside in daylight in the afternoon, and go to bed at a normal time.
Plan the drive home
Drowsiness peaks in the early morning. If you catch yourself nodding, pull over and nap; turning up the music does not fix it.
This is a starting plan, not medical advice. If you cannot sleep even when you have the chance, feel unsafe driving, or want to try a sleep aid or melatonin, talk with your primary care provider first.
Sources
- Training for Nurses on Shift Work and Long Work Hours (Pub. No. 2015-115, revised 2023)National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), CDC · Checked
- Shift work and shift work disorderAmerican Academy of Sleep Medicine (Sleep Education) · Checked
- Caffeine effects on sleep taken 0, 3, or 6 hours before going to bed (Drake et al., J Clin Sleep Med 2013)Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine · Checked
Keep going
- GuideNight Shift Survival Guide for New Nurses: Sleep, Caffeine, Food, and Switching BackEvidence-based night shift tips for new nurses: pre-shift naps, light timing, caffeine cutoffs, overnight meals, drowsy driving, and switching back to days.
- GuideTransition Shock: What's Normal in Your First Year as a Nurse (and When to Get Help)Duchscher's transition shock and the doing-being-knowing stages, the 3-, 6-, and 9-month dips, what helps, and the signs it's time to get support.
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