Now, you may well be one of those people who can just flip a switch, set their alarm for 5:30am and just get up and be ready no - problem. Well, for the rest of us it takes a little more work, so here are Nurse P's top tried and tested methods for switching your body clock!
The "slow and steady" method
Set your alarm clock a little bit earlier every day over the weekend to get yourself sorted.
eg:
Saturday - 7:30am
Sunday - 6:30am
Monday - 5:30am
Great for: those who love to slowly acclimatize and love early mornings
Bad for : those who like a lie-in or have any intentions of getting drunk on Friday or Saturday night.
The "make your self tired" method
Exhaust yourself the day before placement; run everywhere, cycle a full load of shopping back from Asda, take the kids out for a three hour trek around the park, make a souffle, have loads of sex, swim 10 miles and then do a load of ironing. And then chill out in bed with a cup of herbal tea and a good book.
Great for: those who have a million and one thing to do and have the energy to do them all in one day.
Bad for : those who are always organised in advance or who like Sunday afternoon tele with a glass of wine.
The "Don't stop 'till you drop" method
Have a massive lie in on the Saturday, and then work straight through the night until the next evening, not going to sleep until around 7 or 8pm on the Sunday - so you wake up refreshed and sorted on the Monday!
Great for: Night owls who like to work until dawn on assignments, and then keep going all the next day.
Bad for : Anyone with important stuff to do on Sunday, you will not be up to operating heavy machinery! Or anyone who may well take a nap.
One of the hardest things about being a student nurse, is the fact that you have to switch your body clock from being up at 9 for lectures to being up at 5:00 for placement. Different people have different methods, but these three are my three ways to make sure I'm wide awake and ready for placement each day!
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