First rotation is night shifts in the ER- any advice?

[lakeplacid]

Hi all-

I am actually a medicine intern, but my first rotation will be in the ER, and it looks like I have many overnight shifts. I'm a bit nervous because my only experience doing overnight in med school was on Peds and OB/GYN. Is there any advice that might come in handy? I've heard nights are usually not conducive to learning, so I'm just wondering how can I make the most out of my ER experience? Thanks!

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[kungfufishing]

On the contrary, nights can be more conducive to learning than days. There are often fewer patients with relatively higher acuity which means you may see more sick people and the attending may have more time to ask or answer questions. Show up with a good attitude, know your patients, and be self motivated.

 

[docB]

Nights in the ED are different than on other rotations. A night on a non-ED rotation is a lot about trying to get some sleep and putting anything that can wait on hold until the next day. In the ED the night is just like the day except it's dark out. So fight the urge to include the phrase "...and tomorrow we can..." in anything you say.

As for the physical aspects of it I would try to stay up late the night before you start and then get a nap in on your first day. Hopefully your nights will be grouped.

 

[hackinmage]

One great thing about night shifts in terms of learning as a medical student (and this might translate to a intern year) is it's ALOT easier to learn procedures/autonamy, i'm not sure if it's just because the attendings/senior residents are just sleepy but they usually let you do more if you ask.

best of luck!

 

[Arcan57]

I've become a big fan of getting 20-30 minutes of sleep before the night shift. If you have a bunch of grouped overnights, try to sleep in a completely darkened room to length your duration of daytime sleep/reset your circadian clock. If they are intermittent (2 or fewer consecutive nights), it's better to caffeinate heavily and sleep in some light.

 

[Rendar5]

doing a few overnights tomorrow myself. So I'm staying up into the wee hours right now so I'll be on tomorrow. I love nights because I get a more varied pace, closer attention to detail, and both fast track and pediatric (Peds ED closes at 2AM, opens at 10AM) cases.

 

[Tiger26]

doing a few overnights tomorrow myself. So I'm staying up into the wee hours right now so I'll be on tomorrow. I love nights because I get a more varied pace, closer attention to detail, and both fast track and pediatric (Peds ED closes at 2AM, opens at 10AM) cases.

Agreed--love the night shifts--plus, interesting stuff happens

 

[SoCuteMD]

I love my blackout curtain. I turn the AC on higher than I normally would during the day, close the door and sleep like it's nighttime out!

 

[lakeplacid]

Thanks for all the replies! I'm happy to hear I was misinformed about night shifts being bad for learning. I'm dreading the upcoming month much less now