by Sarah Jividen | Jul 16, 2022 | Nurse Life, Nurse Work Life Balance, The-Motherhood, Working Mom
*This post contains affiliate links/ Updated from 12/2017
Preparing for 12-hour shifts as a registered nurse requires some prearranged groundwork and organization at home to ensure my day starts off on the right foot. As a working mom, I know I will be gone for a large chunk of time, so I do my best to make sure things are properly set up at home the day before.
Additionally, as a nurse, I know how important it is that I take good care of myself so I can continue to give the best possible care to my family and patients. After all, I can’t expect others to listen to me when I talk about health about staying healthy if I don’t take my own advice.
How I Prepare For a 12-Hour Shift
#1. Prepare All Meals In Advance
I grocery shop every three days so I am able to prepare meals for my toddlers and for each of my 12-hour shifts at the hospital in advance. To avoid scrambling at the last minute, I always make sure everything is ready and packaged to go the night before.
I prepare several options for the kids’ breakfasts, lunch, and dinner, including:
- Avocado or almond toast
- Bananas, apples, kiwis, various berries
- Black bean or chickpea pasta
- Cheese squares
- Veggies straws with hummus
- Veggie/fruit smoothies
- Chicken
- Eggs
- Sautéed veggies
In addition, one day per week I make a big batch of quinoa or brown rice and keep it handy in the fridge for quick meal preparation. When I need it, I add veggies, nuts, seeds, dried cranberries, olive oil, tempeh, or whatever else I have in the fridge at that moment. This is so convenient because I can whip something up quickly for my work lunches, and I also have it on days I’m home with the kids.
In fact, I use it at least once or twice a day! I make everything from veggie smoothies to salad dressings, to soups and blended coffee drinks. It makes my life so much easier, especially now that we have kids and time is limited.
In the mornings, I make a vegetable and berry smoothie with one tablespoon of Maca powder, flaxseed and/or hemp seeds for protein, and acai powder. I alternate my veggies between broccoli, spinach, and kale. For the berry part: strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries, although sometimes ill add half a banana or mango.
I also make several mason jars of overnight oats on Sundays with a variety of flavors:
- Blueberry/strawberry/raspberry
- Peanut butter and maple
- Banana and walnut
- Almond and raisin
I either add ground flax seeds or chia seeds for extra protein and antioxidant benefits. And I’ll top it with a dash of cinnamon. These make such an easy breakfast to go!
The Nutribullet
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#2. Sleep As Much As Possible Before a 12-Hour Shift
Let’s be honest – 12-hour shifts usually end up being closer to 14+ at the end of the day. And many studies show that working 12-hour shifts are damaging to nurse health due to the length of time that nurses end up working. In fact, an increased risk of depression, anxiety, obesity, cardiovascular disease, and even some cancers have all been researched and publicized.
Since the shifts are not getting shorter anytime soon, the best thing that nurses can do to take care of themselves is to rest as much as possible before shifts. Therefore, I make it a huge priority to get at least 7-8 hours of sleep before shifts. (This was so much easier before we had kids!)
A Few Things I Use To Help Me Sleep Better At Night:
Eye Mask and Earplugs
After having kids, I realized that I am an incredibly light sleeper. In fact, even the slightest noises wake me up in the middle of the night. And sometimes, I have difficulty falling back asleep again, which is so frustrating when I work a 12-hour shift in the morning.
Blackout Sleep Mask
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Restorative Yoga Poses
I keep a yoga pillow and a yoga mat right next to the bed that I use for restorative yoga poses about 20 minutes before I try to go to sleep. It helps decompress me from my day, check in with myself, and put me into a snug and sleepy mood.
Heathyoga Eco-Friendly Non-Slip Yoga Mat
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AJNA Yoga Bolster Pillow -100% Organic Vegan Suede
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#3. Exercise On Days Off
I always feel so much better when I get my heart rate up on my days off. The benefits of exercise have been well documented and are essential for nurse self-care. It is no secret that regular exercise helps control weight, boosts overall energy, improves your mood, and decreases stress levels. Not only does exercise benefit the nurse personally, but it also helps nurses have the stamina to give better care to patients as well.
Need to blow off some steam after a stressful day? A yoga session or brisk 30-minute walk can help. Physical activity stimulates various brain chemicals that may leave you feeling happier and more relaxed. Which, in turn, will help manage caregiver’s burden and help you feel your best.
For me personally, yoga has been a total game-changer for my stress levels. But it’s also great to change up the routine a bit, and I enjoy escaping with my headphones for a run and listening to music. Whatever you do is great as long as you actually do it!
#4. Wear Compression Socks
These don’t actually help me prepare for a shift; however, they are super important!. Those who know me, know I’m a stickler for compression socks. Wearing compression stockings helped me work all the way through two pregnancies and I continue to wear them at work to this day. They help keep your legs energized, prevent varicose veins, and keep your ankles and feet from getting so swollen after being on your feet all day. Plus, they come in the cutest styles now.
6-Pack Compression Socks
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Conclusion
Nurses play a crucial role in the healthcare industry and are essential in providing quality care to patients. However, in the midst of their demanding and often stressful work, nurses tend to neglect their own health and well-being.
It is important for nurses to prioritize self-care and take the necessary steps to maintain their physical, emotional, and mental health. This will not only benefit you personally but also ensure you can continue to provide excellent care to your patients. Therefore, it is imperative that nurses recognize the importance of self-care and make it a priority in their lives.
Thanks, and best of luck!
How To Prepare For A 12-Hour Shift Frequently Asked Questions
How do I prepare my body for a 12-hour shift?
Preparing your body for a 12-hour shift is important to avoid fatigue and reduce the risk of injury. Here are some tips:
- Get enough sleep the night before.
- Eat a healthy, balanced diet and stay hydrated.
- Wear comfortable, supportive shoes and clothing.
- Take breaks and stretch throughout the shift.
- Practice good posture and ergonomics.
- Stay mentally alert with activities like listening to music or podcasts during breaks.
What should a 12-hour nursing shift eat?
A balanced diet is important for nurses working 12-hour shifts. Here are some tips for healthy eating during a long shift:
- Eat a nutritious breakfast before your shift.
- Bring healthy snacks such as fruit, nuts, or vegetables to eat throughout the day.
- Pack a balanced lunch with protein, whole grains, and vegetables.
- Drink plenty of water and avoid sugary drinks and excessive caffeine.
- Avoid heavy, greasy meals that can make you feel sluggish.
How far does a nurse walk during an average 12-hour shift?
Nurses can walk several miles during a 12-hour shift, depending on the unit and patient population. On average, a nurse may walk between 4 and 6 miles per shift.
How much sleep do I need for a 12-hour shift?
The amount of sleep you need for a 12-hour shift will vary depending on your individual needs. However, it is generally recommended that adults get 7-9 hours of sleep per night.
How to survive three 12-hour shifts in a row?
Surviving three 12-hour shifts in a row can be challenging. Here are some tips to help you manage:
- Get enough sleep and rest between shifts.
- Stay hydrated and eat nutritious meals.
- Take breaks and stretch throughout the shift.
- Prioritize self-care activities such as exercise, meditation, or spending time with friends and family.
- Use your days off to rest and recharge.
What are the disadvantages of nurses working 12-hour shifts?
Some of the disadvantages of working 12-hour shifts for nurses include:
- Increased risk of burnout and fatigue.
- Difficulty maintaining work-life balance.
- Increased risk of workplace injuries.
- Potential negative impact on patient safety and quality of care.
- Potential negative impact on personal relationships and mental health.
Why are 8-hour shifts better than 12-hour shifts for nursing?
Some of the advantages of 8-hour shifts over 12-hour shifts for nursing include:
- Lower risk of burnout and fatigue.
- Easier to maintain work-life balance.
- More opportunities for education and training.
- Lower risk of workplace injuries.
- Potential for improved patient safety and quality of care.
Additional recommended reading:
by Sarah Jividen | Dec 12, 2018 | Nurse Burnout, Nurse Health Tips, Nurse Life
In case you missed it, last week I was interviewed by the amazing Nurse Coach Jessica Smith and we talked about bouncing back from burnout.
Well, guess what? I got ANOTHER chance to talk with Jessica this week about a topic that is near and dear to my heart: nurses nurturing nurses! (I had so much fun the first time, what can I say?!)
Our ‘Nurses Nurturing Nurses‘YouTube interview can be found HERE!
During the interview, we discussed:
- Strategies you can use to attain a work-life balance with a busy nursing schedule;
- How you can design your life around how you want to feel;
- How doing simple things each day can make a BIG impact on your overall health and well-being;
I’d love for you to listen in – and even better – leave a comment!
Again, the link to listen in can be found here!
Take care,
Sarah
Additional Recommended Reading:
7 Ways To Beat Nurse Burnout
Nurse Burnout: How Administration Can Help
How To Achieve A Work-Life Balance As A Nurse
Nurse Health: Self- Care For 12 Hours Shifts
by Sarah Jividen | Dec 5, 2018 | Nurse Burnout, Nurse Health Tips, Nurse Life, Nurse Work Life Balance
Nurse burnout sucks. I’ve totally been there.
So, it may seem odd at first to hear that I also LOVE talking about nurse burnout. In fact, I think every nurse experiences burnout at some point in their career (if you haven’t, please email me back and let me know your secret!).
Here’s the kicker. Once you admit you have an issue with nursing burnout, you open yourself to the idea of potential solutions. But if you just pull your hoodie over your eyes and continue to suffer in silence, then nothing ever changes. And your burnout gets even worse.
So, let’s talk about solutions for nurse burnout!
Last week I had an amazing opportunity to interview with nurse coach and fellow ER nurse Jessica Smith about bouncing back from burnout!
Our Bouncing Back From Burnout YouTube interview can be found here:
During the interview, we discussed the following:
- How you can find a work-life balance with a busy nursing schedule;
- Why nurses need to make their own health a #1 priority;
- How getting to the “why” in your burnout can help you find patterns that contribute to your burnout;
- And why you should always surround yourself with positive support!
I’d love for you to listen in – and even better – leave a comment or share it with your fellow nurse friends!
Again, the link to listen in can be found here!
I can’t wait for you to check it out!
Additional Recommended Reading:
7 Ways To Beat Nurse Burnout
Nurse Burnout: How Administration Can Help
How To Achieve A Work-Life Balance As A Nurse
Nurse Health: Self- Care For 12 Hours Shift
by Sarah Jividen | Dec 20, 2017 | ER Nurse, Nurse Career, Nurse Life
Have I mentioned how much more I love my job now since I started working as an emergency room nurse?
A year ago, I was a per diem resource nurse who worked on multiple different med/surg and telemetry floors all over our hospital. Being a resource nurse works well for me due to the flexibility it gives me as a working Mom.
But unfortunately, I was becoming incredibly burnt out. Bitter even. I was losing my passion, and I started to wonder if I was due for a career change-up.
I even went so far as to interview for a few medical device companies as a Clinical Nurse Specialist (I was a medical device salesperson before my career change into nursing). I am so glad I decided not to accept any of those positions!
Instead, I adopted a new specialty as an RN in the emergency room and reignited my passion for nursing and healthcare. When the opportunity came up for me to interview for cross-training into my own hospital’s level 1 trauma center, I jumped on it. I started my ER journey on Easter Sunday, 2017.
I have always thought of the ER as a scary portal into the hospital. We are often overbooked with patients, and the load can be relentless. There are sometimes grim patient situations, and sometimes patients die, despite every life-saving effort.
You will be hard-pressed to find medical professionals who deal with more stress and pressure then emergency room nurses. But I am grateful to expand on my med/surg and telemetry knowledge base and learn a new specialty.
Here are my top 6 reasons that I love being an emergency room nurse:
My IV start skills are so much better.
Since becoming a nurse in the emergency room, my IV start skills have gotten so much better.
In an emergency, we need to be able to start IV’s fast for testing, various medications, pain and nausea relief, IV hydration, and antibiotic therapy, among other things.
Fortunately, in the ER, I get the opportunity to start anywhere from 5 or more IVs in a single shift. So I have the chance to perfect my skills frequently on many patients who are difficult IV sticks.
Many of the nurses I work with have been in the ER for a decade, or longer and their IV skills are unbelievable. Several nurses are even trained to do ultrasound-guided IV starts on patients with hard-to-stick veins.
There is an enormous variety in our patient population.
Every day is an adventure. Sometimes it can be overwhelming, but never boring. I have had patients ranging in age from 2 days to 108 years. Patients have arrived with complaints from hiccups, to every type of accident you can imagine and everything in between.
As one would expect, many of our patients are really sick or critically injured. Our patient loads include various types of trauma patients, septic patients, elderly patients, organ transplanted patients, patients with cancer or autoimmune diseases, psych patients, and small children and babies, and so much more. There is rarely a dull moment and always something new to learn.
The teamwork in the emergency room is impressive.
The coordination when a trauma patient arrives is impressive. Patients come into the ER in urgent situations where the cause of injury or disease isn’t yet known. Doctors, nurses, techs, pharmacists, and other medical professionals cohesively work together to give fast life-saving medical treatment.
Also, emergency room nurses often have their own sections, but there are also many “resource” nurses on the floor to assist with additional patient care. When a patient arrives with a more serious condition, there are always nurses who come in to help.
For example, we call a “code” for septic, stroke, and head trauma patients. It is an overhead call to other nurses in the ER that a particular room needs additional help. Within seconds there are a handful or more nurses in the room helping with triage, initial assessments, IV sticks, blood draws, and many other nurse protocols and procedures.
The emergency room moves fast.
Many call it “organized chaos.” The emergency room is a fine-tuned machine with each nurse component working semi-gracefully around one another. From the outside, it might look like craziness, but the madness always has a method.
I am constantly learning.
I am a closet science geek. And I love the cerebral stimulation that I get as an emergency room nurse. I have had the opportunity to see more disease states, complex injuries, and unusual diagnoses then I ever could have imagined even existed.
It would not be an exaggeration to say I learn ten new things every day at work. To top it off, I am surrounded by some of the most intelligent people I have ever met. Many of my co-workers have the same drive for helping people I do. They motivate me to keep learning.
I just have to laugh at some of the stuff I see.
Nursing is a work of heart.
Please forgive me for saying this. This may seem inappropriate, but it is how I maintain my resiliency.
The emergency room is a very emotional place. Patients never want to be there and usually don’t understand, for example, why they have to wait in the hallway an hour or even much longer until their test results are completed, or the medical team decides on a plan for them. They get upset and tired of waiting.
Sadly, sometimes they take out there frustrations on the people working the hardest to get them the medical treatment they need: the nurses.
Sometimes things just get so odd that I can’t help but laugh. There are days when I see people come into the ER saying that they feel like dying, but end up having a diagnosis of constipation. Once I had a college student come in for a temperature of 99 degrees. I’m like, seriously? How do you even get through the day?
I have had so many “I couldn’t make this stuff up if I tried” experiences in the emergency room to last me a long time. But that’s one of the reasons I like being in the ER versus other parts of the hospital. It can get weird, but I’m always learning. And I’m so grateful for the opportunity to keep learning.
Additional recommended reading: 5 Best Trauma Shears For Nurses
by Sarah Jividen | Dec 18, 2017 | ER Nurse, Nurse Life
While most people were with their families this Easter Sunday, I was working day one of Emergency Room RN training.
In light this, my family had our Easter celebration and egg hunt with our daughter the day prior. Celebrating holidays the day before or the day after has been one thing I have had to get accustomed to as an RN.
It was surprisingly not as busy as most days in the emergency room, or so I’m told. My preceptor, who has 10 years working in the ER, mentioned that fewer ER admissions occur on holidays then on other days of the year. Apparently, many people like to wait until the day after a major holiday to have a medical emergency and show up in the ER.
There are a wide variety of patients in the emergency room.
The day started off with a bang. I had my very first trauma patient. The unfortunate victim of a car crash that occurred somewhere along the 405. I was hoping the ER would get me out of my comfort zone, and my first experience absolutely did not disappoint.
I also got my first pediatric patient: a baby who luckily didn’t have anything seriously wrong. Having my own 20 month old daughter, I seriously don’t know how well I’m going to handle pediatric patients that are not so lucky.
My patients ranged in age from 8 weeks to 96 years old. Talk about a diverse patient population!
My IV start skills are constantly being challenged.
I started 3 IV’s during the shift, including a few elderly patients, which I often have a difficult time with. Not too shabby, if I don’t say so myself. I have always been pretty good at IV starts, but I hope to really fine tune my skills within the next few months.
One thing I was super impressed with was that my preceptor does ultra sound guided IV’s on a daily basis. So cool. I didn’t even know that nurses were allowed to do that. There are apparently several nurses who do it in our emergency room and it requires additional classes and a special certification. I don’t know of any other floors in the hospital where that happens.
HIPPA and patient privacy
I have been having an issue with how much I ethically can and should disclose on this blog. As much as I want to break down every little detail of what I see, we have this super important legal policy called the Healthcare Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. Otherwise known as HIPAA, it is basically a fancy way of saying that any healthcare professional will get fired if they disclose anything about a patient’s identity or medical information. Essentially it legally protects patient confidentially, which is a good thing.
On the off chance that anyone actually does read what I am writing I want to be very careful of this. Therefore, I am going to focus my writing on the skills and tasks that I perform and not on any patient information. It seriously limits what I can talk about, so I am mentioning that upfront.
Also, my husband is also a legal investigator at the hospital and he frequently reminds me about HIPAA. He even teaches courses about it to staff. It is a complete coincidence that we happen to both work for the same medical center (for the record though, I was there first).
Tomorrow I will get up at 5:15am and head out for day 2 of ER training and a whole new round of learning experiences. At some point I need to get a start on the 50 hours on online ER training courses I need to complete. My brain is tired just thinking about it.
Sarah, Mother Nurse Love
