As a nurse, you know how important it is to stay alert during your shift. Oftentimes, a 13-hour shift can leave you exhausted, which can be extremely detrimental to your patient’s care. Today, we interviewed Nurse Mendoza, who is an experience register nurse that has been practicing for 7 years, on this very topic: how to stay alert during your shift.
He recommends doing the following:
Drink a lot of water
When you get busy during your nurse shift, it is easy to forget to stay hydrated. Make sure to remind yourself to drink water. You could do so by leaving reminders on your phone to alert you. Drinking cold water will increase your energy and helps to relieve fatigue. 60% of our body is composed of water, and we need to make sure it stays that way!
Only drink coffee in the Morning
For all the coffee fans out there, resist the urge to drink coffee near the end of your shift. The extra caffeine in your body can prevent you from getting well rested sleep and could potentially even keep you up all night.
Take B2 vitamins
Humans need daily dosage of B2 which can be found in foods such as soybeans, edamame, lean meats, mushroom and more. While you could potentially get most of your B2 vitamins you need by your diet, most people don’t. B2 play an important role in energy production and is critical in helping you stay alert on your shift. A simple solution to this problem is taking supplemental B2 vitamins.
We hope these 3 tips on how to stay alert gives you more energy during your nurse shift.
