Repaying some of the sleep debt as quickly as possible will help individuals recover sooner.Įxposure to light triggers chemical events in the circadian pacemaker that affects your sleep and wake cycles. Communicate your working hours to others: Notify friends and family of your shifts so that they do not disturb you.Īfter the last shift in a block of night shifts, remember that the more days in a row a person has been working through the night, the more sleep debt they will likely have accrued.Electric fans can be useful to keep air circulating and provide neutral background noise. Use earplugs to block out daytime noise and blackout curtains to prevent daylight from entering the room. Prepare your bedroom for sleep: Make sure your room is quiet, dark, and at a comfortable temperature.Refrain from activities that make you feel more alert: Avoid these until the hours before your next shift.Avoid smoking before bed: Nicotine is a stimulant and therefore cause you to experience difficulties getting to sleep.Avoid alcohol before you try to sleep: Alcohol may help you fall asleep, but it diminishes sleep quality and disturbs the deep stages of sleep, which will leave you feeling unrefreshed the next day.
Some people can work at night without issue, while others experience sleep deprivation and fatigue.
Here are Medical News Today‘s coping strategies for working after dark. Finding ways to cope can be the difference between living a healthy existence and being subjected to the many elevated health and safety risks during night shifts. People need to work through the night for numerous reasons. The suppression of melatonin - the hormone responsible for regulating the internal body clock - may play a role. Night shift work may also interfere with the body’s ability to repair DNA damage from normal cellular processes. These include an increased risk of metabolic problems, heart disease, gastrointestinal difficulties, obesity, and certain cancers.Ī study published by the American Association for Cancer Research found that for every 5 years of night shift work, the risk of breast cancer rises by 3.3%. What is more, a poll by American analytics company Gallup showed that almost 4 in 10 adults said they work at least 50 hours every week.Īccording to the National Sleep Foundation, there is a link between shift work and long working hours and several health issues. Image Source/Getty Imagesĭue to our modern 24-hour society, nearly 15 million people in the United States work full-time night shifts, evening shifts, rotational shifts, or other such irregular schedules. Share on Pinterest Healthcare professionals often have to work night shifts and have long duty hours.