If start at midnight and finish 11 am next day,is it best to go straight to bed as soon as you get home,or stay awake a few hours,and wake up an hour before the next shift starts,to eat,shower etc.It is same as jet lag sypmtons,i know pilots use a mathematical formulae to calculate body clock time when they fly through different time zones in the world.On a trans-atlantic flight aircrew absorb as much radiation as a hospital chest x-ray.Some guys dont sleep all day,because have kids,and turn up to work shattered.
This can be one of the hardest things to do for a day person.
Each person is different so there is no definitive answer.
Do not feel defeated if you cannot sleep in the day - some can never manage it and find they are like zombies all the time which rules out driving - others take to it like a duck to water 
You will soon find out which you are but don’t push your personal safety driving limits
I start any time between 1am and 4am and get home between 11am and 2pm I then go to bed at about 6pm. I get about 6-7 hours sleep most nights which I find fine.
I am one of these people who cannot sleep during the day, even if the room is totally blacked out, I can do the odd night as a favour for the agency, but that takes me 2 days to recover from…
Recently I had to turn down 5 easy nights, as I knew I would never complete them… 
I used to do midnight to midday, get home about 1230 and to bed about 1300, sleep until about 2100 then dinner and couple hours watching tv, back to work 2330. This was the best work pattern I ever did as I never sleep very well at night, unfortunately it only lasted 3 years 
. Although I still dont sleep very well at night at home, when I was on ‘nights out’ on my last job I slept ok. Most of my working life I’ve either done ‘nights out’, or worked nights, either suits me well but not to everyone’s taste. My ideal job is nights out over weekends, never liked weekends at home. If you can’t sleep in the daytime, don’t do nights 
Tiger.
Is it best to stay awake during all of the night work,as cat napping during the shift,messes you up for resting and sleeping in the day.Anyone noticed how hospital and care workers and even truckers do not get more money for working at night,agencies pay rubbish for working like a mad man at night.■■?
I’ve always preferred night work, last week I was on 5pm-5am and this week 10pm to 7am. Generally I get home and have an hour or so to wind down before going to bed. I never eat before going to bed and I make sure I get a good 8 hrs sleep and then I’m ready once more. After a while your body clock adjusts to the rhythm of sleeping during the day, so its only the weekends I have to deal with
I do get more than being on the same job days, so maybe it varies with agencies.
One agency job i did,a one off,was a full day shift up to Liverpool and back,then 9 off to start a long night shift.Wasnt too bad.tax man took the profit out of it,even though he did not do the work.Agency did not appreciate the effort much.
i normally start about 3am, finesh around 1ish then i will go to sleep at 9pm and then up again at 2.30am ready for work, so 5hours kip is all i need it seems, mind u ive been more ill doing this job than i ever was in the army
I start at 22:00 and finish about 08:00. when i get home I stay up untill about 11:00 at the latest and sleep until 18:00.
I find its best to relax for a few hours before sleeping - I think it helps me sleep better.
I did nights for 8 or 9 years, 6 'til 6. I was usually in bed by 7am and got up naturally at about 2 or 3pm. I’m doing an evening run tomorrow, starting at 3pm finish about 2.30am. I’ll probably sleep from 3am until 10am. If you make it through the first 2 nights, you’ll find you want to sleep anyway, so do it as soon as you get home.
I have worked nights on and off for many years…i like night work.
my current shifts are usually 1700 to about 0500…i get home…have a bite to eat…watch a bit of telly that i have recorded on sky+ then go to bed around 0800…ish…get up at about 1545 and get ready for work.
regular nights is ok…changing shifts every couple of weeks is a no-no for me,just get used to nights,then back on days?..not good.
the shift i WONT do is one starting from about midnight to 0400…kills me…cant sleep right for that…im falling asleep at the wheel by 0600?
xamtex:
I have worked nights on and off for many years…i like night work.
my current shifts are usually 1700 to about 0500…i get home…have a bite to eat…watch a bit of telly that i have recorded on sky+ then go to bed around 0800…ish…get up at about 1545 and get ready for work.
regular nights is ok…changing shifts every couple of weeks is a no-no for me,just get used to nights,then back on days?..not good.
the shift i WONT do is one starting from about midnight to 0400…kills me…cant sleep right for that…im falling asleep at the wheel by 0600?
Same here
I start at 4pm ish finish anything up to 5am mainly about 2 or 3 though , go home check emails do a bit on here a bite to eat coffee then bed about 5 6 or 7 then get up about 2pm shower coffee bite to eat and off ot the door 3pm. Mind I’m normally in this mode all the time 7days a weekbeen doing it around 15 yrs with a short stint on days for about 2 years
I used to do 9.00 p.m. till 7.00 a.m. and used to turn the day round 12 hours. I got back from work and stayed up till about 11.30-12.00 then slept until 7 ish. This worked for me, but now I’m on a couple of hours earlier, and I go straight to bed at anything from 3.00 to 5.00 a.m. and usually get up between 10.30 and 11.30.
Everyone is different, and I think you just have to find your own pattern that works, or get a proper job on days 
magnumboy:
I start at 22:00 and finish about 08:00. when i get home I stay up untill about 11:00 at the latest and sleep until 18:00.I find its best to relax for a few hours before sleeping - I think it helps me sleep better.
i know this is the best way for me as well.
Im just off night work that i had been doing for 3 ish years, two different shifts i had to deal with sleep differently.
shift 1 - 10pm start till about 6 or so. i went to bed when i got home, maybe an hour to unwind but deffo didnt stay up long, slept till i woke usually about 3 or 5pm then had a life till i needed to go to work again.
shift 2 - 2am start till about midday. NIGHTMARE, i tried everything from sleeping the second i got home to staying awake till about 6pm and sleeping till i needed to head back to work. it was hard as hell but i found i needed to give it about a month to see if i adjusted to it or it was going to kill me before trying a new routine. the easiest one i would say is sleep when you get in in the morning just for a few hours then at about 10pm head to bed again and sleep until you need to leave. it kept me going till my father retired and now im on day time work which is ■■■■ good.
my job is probably a strange one, we work basicly evenings/nights, but are away from home, our shifts can vairy from at best 3 hrs to worst 12 hrs, so say monday I can leave home 19.30, job done by midnight, but I know tuesday will start 17.00 and finish 03.00, so on Monday night I will probably watch TV or be on line on the lappy till say 04.00, then sleep till noon, cannot go to bed without a chillout period so tuesday will probably hit the pit at 04.00, and again sleep till noon, wed may start at 17.00, be finished by 10, but will be thinking about staying up if the night after will be a later start. Have no problem sleeping day or night, till I get home, and tonight has been a rare one for a Friday started at 18.00 finished 05.00, back home and staying up for the misses to get up around 7 as I sleep better at silly o’clock on my own.
will sleep for about 6 hrs this morning, the be on day mode for the weekend, but have a lie in Monday to start all over again.
I may be lucky as I know a 4 hr kip will set me up for the day, and probably years of silly start times has destroyed my body clock.
the wifes getting up now so night night.