Lack of sleep effects me from the moment I walk in the door at 11pm.  I am not a night person but unfortunately have to work those hours. I have countless times dozed off at the diff scope, leaned over the keyboard or fallen asleep at break time.  Especially as the night drags on, my level of alertness drops and my quick and critical thinking skills also diminish as well. 

For me it is hard to sleep during the daytime, let alone on weekends when family is home and the neighborhood is bustling with activity.  To me, doing things and spending time with friends and family is more important than my job.  I will sacrifice sleep time to be able to spend time with them.  This job merely pays the bills and puts food on the table. 

I cannot wait until I find something different to do (job) and am able to hang my hat on working night shift.

I work nights by choice to get away from some of the administrative BS on dayshift.  I find that my busiest time is at the end of my shift, from 5:30 to 7am.  I find that I have to be VERY careful to match the requisition with the correct patient and to really concentrate to avoid errors.

Not the best solution, but the only one that I have found so far...