In the quiet hours when most people are asleep, a group of correctional officers, watches over the night, their footsteps echoing through empty corridors and dimly lit prison yards.
Many officers say they enjoy these nontraditional hours with the camaraderie, premium pay, sense of duty and lack of administrative staff. But beneath the surface, many staff are suffering. Off-shift work affects more than just sleep patterns; it affects the officers’ lives, families and wellbeing.
I was an overtime “hound.” Kids are expensive, and their needs — new clothes, violin lessons, band trips — never pause. So, I said yes anytime overtime was offered, and I worked mandatory overtime when someone called in. Working off-shifts became a way to secure that extra paycheck. Sleep deprivation seemed a fair trade for financial stability. Extra cups of coffee and Mountain Dew fueled my nights.
As someone who has spent more than three decades in the field of corrections, I’ve been there. Twenty-two of those years included shift work — those overnight hours that throw off your circadian rhythm and test your resilience. Evening shifts, while disruptive, allow for family time. But midnight shifts? They were a different beast altogether.
Let me share something I stumbled upon — an anonymous officer’s reflection on Facebook. Its raw honesty struck a chord with me: “Night shift doesn’t suck. Staying up all night doesn’t suck. Drinking coffee all night long doesn’t suck. What sucks is constantly trying to function as a normal human being when the sunlight comes out.”
The constant shadow of fatigue
Night-shifters live in a perpetual shadow of fatigue. Their internal clocks defy societal norms. But it’s more than tiredness — it’s a bone-deep weariness. I could go in on day watch and stay 16 hours until midnight, that was no problem, but put me on midnight shifts for a quarter and I was useless. I felt useless. Shift work can do that for you.
If you get a weekend, you tend to shift your sleep habits to work with the family schedule.This causes off-shift workers to battle insomnia on their nights off. They’re awake during the day, navigating errands, appointments and family obligations.
Then they return to the guilt of sleeping during daylight hours. This weighs heavy on them as loved ones feel like they’re ignoring them. Random phone calls pierce their rest. Work might call, after all, “Can you come in early?”
Listening to others, I knew I was one of the lucky ones. My wife gave up her career to stay home with our children, which meant that no matter what shift I was on, or what overtime I took, there was always someone there to watch the children. But that didn’t mean that shift work didn’t cause problems.
It meant that when I worked midnights, my wife would change their schedules to keep the kids quiet. It meant buying expensive “blackout” curtains for the bedroom. Instead of running errands when it was convenient for her and the kids, she would schedule errands while I was asleep. They would tiptoe around the house, or she would try to keep them outside. Besides the stress it caused on them, I always felt guilty because they had to adapt everything to my schedule. I felt guilty because I was either too tired to interact with them or distracted by thoughts of when I might steal another 30 minutes of sleep.
The awareness conundrum
Picture this: driving home as the sun rises, its warm rays through the windshield. You’re nodding off, eyelids heavy. “Slap.” You wake yourself up. It’s a desperate battle against sleep, against the pull of exhaustion. You arrive home, sometimes not even remembering the drive.
We talk about being aware, being vigilant in corrections and always being on our toes. But if you can’t recall your drive home, how sharp is your awareness at work? The warm sun, the nodding head — it’s a dangerous dance.
It doesn’t come without a price
Although shift workers like us make do, study after study shows the negative effects of lack of sleep and working non-traditional hours on the human body. We are not only tired, but our immunity is lowered, our stress is increased, and we suffer from a decrease in our good hormones and an increase in our weight and hunger. Our bodies were not meant to “stay awake at night” indefinitely.
So what can we do about it? A little “self-care” for night shift workers can make a big difference in your health and wellness. Here are some of the recommendations if you are working night shift:
1. Manage your work schedule
If you have the option, choose less frequent rotations; work a shift for three weeks rather than rotating to a different schedule every week. You may have to try more than once to get away from the off-shifts.
2. Plan your sleep
Scheduling blocks of solid sleep is critical, but power naps are valuable too. Studies show that naps of 40-60 minutes are the best duration. “Blackout” curtains help, and you may have to create a “sleeping” area in a quieter part of the house.
3. Family support
Make sure family and close friends respect your sleep! Emphasize how important sleep is to your health and safety. Turn your phone off and give them someone else’s phone number if it is a dire emergency.
4. Prioritize nutrition
Plan your meals ahead of time and bring food from home. Not only less expensive, but your own food is conveniently ready when you get a few free minutes. Frequent meals of protein, fruits, and vegetables are not only healthy but the freshness of the food may be invigorating. Stay away from the convenience store food or worse yet, the food in the vending machines. And be careful with caffeine! Red Bull and Mtn Dew are quick pick-me-ups, but I know officers who drink gallons every day. This will have lasting health effects as you get older.
5. Stay in touch!
Social isolation is a risk associated with shift work so maintaining social ties is critical to mental health and overall levels of happiness and life enjoyment. Remain involved in as many family and social functions as possible. Take time to talk to your loved ones, and help them understand that you are not avoiding them, and there are “real” reasons why you work off-shifts.
6. Schedule exercise and get outside
Create an exercise routine that works around your schedule. Although gyms are often viewed as a convenient way to get some quick exercise, studies have shown that “green space” exercise has tremendous benefits for our health and wellbeing.
Get outside, even if it is just for a few minutes. Stop at a park on the way home and take a 10-minute walk. Green exercise activities also improve self-esteem and decrease negative moods, such as tension, anger and depression. People also tend to exercise more and with less perceived effort when they exercise outdoors. A 30-minute walk in the park goes by quickly compared to the countdown of a treadmill in the gym.
Finding a green space to exercise has also been shown to affect the appearance of stress markers in the body. Adrenaline, noradrenaline and the stress hormone cortisol all fall after being in nature. These studies also showed lowered heart rates and improved blood pressure.
For those looking for more information on managing your sleep, health and wellness as a shift worker, I recommend “Making Night Shift Work: A Practical Guide for the Night Worker” by Dr. Steven Frei.
I hope these tips help. Now go get some sleep, because I know several of you have to work an off-shift tonight.
