{"id":242,"date":"2015-10-28T08:00:28","date_gmt":"2015-10-28T08:00:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/projects.nyujournalism.org\/dormancy\/?page_id=242"},"modified":"2015-10-28T17:03:56","modified_gmt":"2015-10-28T17:03:56","slug":"the-night-nurse","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/projects.nyujournalism.org\/dormancy\/the-night-nurse\/","title":{"rendered":"The Night Nurse"},"content":{"rendered":"

By\u00a0JoAnna Klein<\/em><\/p>\n

—<\/p>\n

Most of us wake up in the morning, have some coffee and a shower (or whatever it is we do) and head straight to work. We\u2019re home around six \u2014 sometimes eight or nine \u2014 and at some point after the sun has set, we\u2019ve put on our pajamas and crawled into bed. But nearly 20 percent of Americans do just the opposite. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics, about 15 million<\/a> Americans do shift work. These nurses, doctors, policemen, firemen, bartenders, factory workers and others spend their nights awake in the dark, and their days asleep in the light. This type of schedule disrupts the circadian clock<\/a>, limits access to Vitamin D<\/a> from the sun and takes its toll<\/a> on the mind and body.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019ve got to know how to play it,\u201d says Sasha Winslow, a registered nurse who spent almost a decade working nights. If you catch yourself caught up in the night game, there are strategies to help you win \u2014 or at least live a little better. For example, researchers Mark Smith and Charmane Eastman, who study sleep<\/a> and biological rhythms<\/a> at University of Colorado, Boulder and Rush University in Chicago, respectively, have developed a plan<\/a> to reset the circadian clock for people working regular night shifts. Essentially, you control your body\u2019s access to light and trick it into reversing night and day. At night, you get bright light artificially and during the day, you wear sunglasses and sleep in a dark room. And Sasha says black out shades \u201care the best creation ever,\u201d because they make your room completely dark.<\/p>\n

Of the 2.8 million<\/a> registered nurses and almost 700,000 licensed practical nurses in America, around a third<\/a> of them work nights. Some nurses prefer the nightshift because it is generally more laid back than the day shift. Sasha did too \u2014 even in the pediatric emergency room \u2014 until something happened: Sasha had a baby. Listen to her story of the ups and downs of nights below.<\/p>\n

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