Due to the complex scheduling needs, law enforcement will always use rotation schedules.. Rotations are integral to police work to guarantee round-the-clock coverage for your community. However, shift changes can be difficult on both the mental health and physical health of your officers. This is especially the case if the shift changes are not planned properly. If you read our last blog post, “3 Changes to your Rotation Schedule that Can Save Lives,” you know that poorly planned rotations can be detrimental to your police department.
Much research has been done to show the harmful effects of shift work. A study conducted by Harvard researchers and the National Sleep Foundation found that extended periods of shift work raise the risk of cardiovascular disease, cancer, insulin resistance and mental illness. This is all in addition to the cognitive impairment and fatigue that many officers experience on a daily basis.
However, there are steps your officers can take to reduce the impact of rotation schedules on their mental and physical well-being. In fact, we recommend printing and posting the five tactics below in your department to ensure that officer sleep hygiene is part of your agency’s culture.
Here are five ways to adjust to shift changes:
Ahead of a shift change, have your officers adjust their sleep schedules 3-5 days in advance
Back when I was a lieutenant at Tigard PD, I was finding that many of my officers would try to adjust to shift changes cold turkey. The problem was that their performance and well-being would be noticeably impaired for several weeks following a rotation.
We found that officers who gradually adjusted their sleep schedule in advance of an expected shift change would only experience a small hiccup in performance and their bodies would quickly adapt.
For example, you are currently working a 15:00-23:00 shift and you normally sleep from 02:00-10:00. In three days your shift is rotating to 18:00-02:00. This is how you would adjust your sleep schedule:
- 3 Days Before – sleep 03:00-11:00
- 2 Days Before – sleep 04:00-12:00
- 1 Day Before – sleep 05:00-13:00
As a rule of thumb the more drastic the shift change, the more days you need to allow yourself for adjustment.
Make exercise a habit during a shift change
Believe me when I say I know the feeling of lethargy that hits after coming off a long shift, especially when coupled with OT. The last thing on your mind is going for a run or hitting the gym. However, regular moderate exercise has a myriad of health benefits that will go a long way for your career in the police force.
I’m not talking about running marathons or pursuing extreme powerlifting, but simply choosing a form of exercise you enjoy and incorporating it in your lifestyle. Whether it’s before or after your shift, 30 minutes of exercise 5 times a week is all you need. Exercising helps control your weight, regulate hormones, boost energy and improve the quality of your sleep, which is particularly important during a shift change.
Great Falls Police Department has taken this concept a step further and implemented a 3-part wellness program. Officers who enroll must complete weekly physical and mental training goals and take an annual physical/wellness check. If officers complete these three requirements they earn 2-days off paid time. Talk about making exercise part of the culture!
Moderate caffeine and alcohol intake during a shift change
From personal observation, I noticed that officer coffee consumption went way up every rotation period at Tigard. Although it can definitely help with wakefulness and mental acuity, caffeine consumption should be limited to 1-2 cups a day and stop being consumed 6 hours before bedtime.
The same goes for alcohol. Although you may feel like a glass of wine relaxes you, consuming it too close to bedtime actually disrupts your REM sleep cycle and can make you feel groggier long term. It’s especially important to consume moderate amounts of caffeine and alcohol right before and after a shift change, so your body can naturally get acclimatized to your new schedule.
For all shift changes, remember to follow forward clock rotations
If your department isn’t doing so already, make sure rotations follow a clockwise pattern. This simply means that your succeeding shift is later than your current one. For example, if your current shift is 24:00-08:00, then the succeeding one could be 08:00-16:00—but not the other way around.
Philadelphia PD switched from backwards to forward rotations and experienced a 40% reduction in accidents and a 25% reduction in officers falling asleep on duty. You can learn more here.
Avoid blue light before going to sleep when adjusting to a new shift change
One of the last things I usually do before retiring for the night is check my phone for emails, watch a few YouTube videos and then hopefully doze off. This behavior is actually counterproductive if you are trying to fall asleep, and there are many studies that show how blue light can harm sleep patterns. Electronics emit blue light, which suppresses the production and release of melatonin in our bodies. Melatonin is a sleep-promoting substance that peaks before bedtime and helps to regulate our circadian rhythms.
While putting away electronic devices before bed can be a hard habit to break, it’s important to let your eyes rest so you can get the best sleep possible. This is particularly important if you’re trying to adjust to a new shift change—especially one that has you out of your normal sleep pattern.
The bottom line on adjusting shift changes
While adjusting to shift changes can be difficult, there are important tactics to help your officers adjust as quickly as possible. We recommend sharing these five suggestions with your officers and encouraging them to reach out if they have any problems adjusting to their new rotation.
As always, reach out to the InTime team for any questions regarding rotation scheduling. With automated scheduling software that includes a Wellness component, InTime is available to help you run your best department.
