I didn’t write it because I had it all figured out. I wrote it because I was falling apart—and wanted to stop.

The hospital hums at 03:17. Lights too bright for this hour, monitors whispering numbers you don’t want to see. You can feel the algorithm even here—charting, pinging, selling the promise of “peak performance” in the dead of night. But the body keeps its own books. And lately, the ledger has a new line: melatonin supplementation for night shift workers and what it might mean for oxidative DNA damage repair.

Nurses—responsible for critical decisions under fatigue—are among the most affected.

Introduction: Why Recovery From Shift Work Matters Shift work sustains our 24/7 society — from hospitals and emergency services to logistics, aviation, and manufacturing. Yet, working outside the natural 9-to-5 disrupts the body’s circadian rhythm, increasing the risk for sleep disorders, metabolic syndrome, cardiovascular disease, and mental health decline. According to Frontiers in Neurology  (Kalkanis et al., 2023), up to 38% of shift workers  experience Shift Work Sleep D

Shift workers often face challenges like poor sleep quality and fatigue, which dietary supplements (DSs) may help alleviate. This systematic review and meta-analysis explore the efficacy of DSs in improving sleep quality and daytime function among shift workers, offering insights into their potential benefits and safety profile.

Shift work—especially night shifts—is essential in healthcare and emergency services. Yet it also represents a serious occupational hazard. Beyond fatigue, shift work disrupts circadian rhythms, leading to gut dysbiosis, inflammation, and increased risk for gastrointestinal (GI) diseases such as GERD, IBS, and ulcers.

As someone who’s lived nights and written about them in The Shift Worker’s Paradox, I believe this is the future of occupational wellness — real data meeting real lives.

Source:  Navruz Varlı, S., & Mortaş, H. (2024). The Effect of 24 h Shift Work on the Nutritional Status of Healthcare Workers: An Observational Follow-Up Study from Türkiye.   Nutrients, 16(13), 2088.   DOI link Why This Study Matters As a nurse and shift-work researcher, I’ve seen firsthand how long hours reshape not just our sleep and stress—but our nutrition. This new study from Türkiye provides critical insight into how 24-hour shifts  affect healthcare workers’ nutrient

As a clinician and shift worker, I’ve witnessed how biological misalignment manifests not only in fatigue but also in mood changes, immune dysfunction, and decision fatigue. Sleep optimization isn’t just a personal habit — it’s an occupational safety strategy.

Traditional “one-size-fits-all” sleep advice rarely works here. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-i) presumes a consistent bedtime—an impossibility for rotating rosters that flip from days to nights in a single week.

At 8:17 a.m. on Highway 9 in Forsyth County, Georgia, the collision was already physics in motion.