Written by: Ruby Russell, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
More than 22 million Americans work evenings, on call or rotating shifts.
This is a problem since getting a good night's sleep is critical to life expectancy and good health and it makes you a better person. Being sleep deprived can make you cantankerous, unhealthy and obese. It will make you more susceptible to health problems such as diabetes, strokes, accidents and heart attacks. There are many challenges when working non-traditional hours.
Your physical health can suffer from shift work. It can be challenging to get the necessary sleep you need to stay well rested. Your immune system weakens when you don’t get enough sleep causing you to get sick easier. Your performance can suffer as well and can be dangerous. Studies have found that a lack of sleep can affect concentration, memory, mood and reaction time. Being tired increases the chance of work-related injuries.
Even driving home after work is a risk when you are sleepy.
An estimated 52 percent of car accidents occur within 5 miles of a person's home, and 77 percent occur within 15 miles or less.
I remember a friend leaving my sister's home and falling asleep at the wheel less than 2 blocks away.
Some of the major accidents blamed on human errors partially blamed for a lack of sleep or are:
Three Mile Island Nuclear power plant in 1979- Clean Up Cost $1 billion dollars
Chernobyl nuclear power plant in the former USSR in 1986 -Clean Up Cost $68 billion·
Exxon Valdez oil spill of the coast of Alaska in 1989 - Clean Up Cost $3.8 billion
Shift work is not that uncommon. Police officers, firefighters, doctors, office cleaning staff and factory workers are all at risk for shift work sleep disorders. In industrialized countries up to 20% of workers either work night or rotating shifts, according to an article in the England Journal of Medicine.
People with (SWD) Shift Work Disorder are at higher risk of accidents and missing work due to a lack of sleep. Night work and rotating and shift work can produce a higher risk of ulcers, insulin resistance, metabolic syndrome, and heart disease.
But what to do is the question? We all don’t have the privilege of a fixed schedule for all of our needs. And there’s plenty of information out there about it. Today you read about every remedy imaginable, pill, injections, music, video, Ted talks that just to name a few, all with many subscribers. They are feeding you so much information that if you spend an hour each day reading or listening it should put you to sleep.
Some tips for sleeping and dealing with working odd hours.
Avoid long commutes
Avoid frequently rotating shifts
Try not to work several night shifts in a row.
Keep workplace brightly lit
Try and schedule days off minimizing to many days worked in a row
Limit caffeine, one cup at the beginning of your shift
Avoid bright lights on the way home from work
Don’t stop to do errands
Stick to a regular sleep-wake schedule as much as you can
Limit phone calls and visitors during sleep time
Use blackout blinds or heavy curtains.
Short term effects on your health working shift work are nausea, diarrhea, constipation and heartburn. Insomnia and decreased quality of life are all side effects of shift work along with heart disease, ulcers, obesity. The Institute of Work and Health reports strong evidence that night and shift work is associated with an increase in occupational accidents. Worker fatigue sets in when there is less supervision and co-workers doing non-daytime shifts.
Working night shifts can boost your risk of early death. Researchers found that after doing 22 years of research that women who worked on rotating night shifts for more than five years were up to 11% more likely to die early than someone who never worked such shifts.
Night shifts can mess up the body’s natural rhythms so much that the brain and digestive system. Here are several other ways night shift can affect your health.
Increase risk of heart attack
Increase risk of depression
Increase risk of workplace injury
Changes your metabolism
Interferes with natural sleep rhythms
Increase risk of obesity and diabetes
In other words, shift work can be detrimental to one's health. Make sure you are consistent with your sleep. Pay close attention to what’s going on in your bedroom surroundings. Ensure that you're doing what is necessary to get sleep and improve your health because your life depends on it.
Ruby Russell, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Ruby is a 70-year-old senior entrepreneur and a chip off the old block. Her parents were entrepreneurs, and she wanted to follow in their footsteps. When her domestic partner suffered an injury, he would toss and turn in the bed, tearing the bed up. Ruby used fabric from another bed sheet to extend the top sheet. To make the extension fit correctly, she left out the corners, leaving a long tail. What she created was a top sheet is now a one-step process that centers itself. After using Ruby’s invention, her partner could no longer tear the bed up. One patent and a little ingenuity later, and RR Distinctive Beddings was born. Like all entrepreneurs, there is always a hit and miss. One thing all entrepreneurs have in common is perseverance, a head full of ideas, and a dream. However, Ruby was holding on until there was a life-changing moment.
