While the world sleeps

LOUISVILLE, Colo. — While much of the world rests, a dedicated team at AdventHealth Avista continues to care, respond, and support patients through the night. For Clinical Nurse Coordinator Shea Lewan, more than two decades on night shift have offered a unique perspective on the challenges, connections, and purpose that define these hours.

Below, Shea shares what makes night shift so distinct - from the resilience required to navigate its demands to the deep sense of camaraderie that forms among those who serve together. Her words offer a powerful reminder that the work done overnight is not only essential, but deeply meaningful.

For more than two decades, I have had the privilege of working the night shift at AdventHealth Avista. As a Clinical Nurse Coordinator, I often reflect on how unique this shift truly is. While health care is a 24-hour commitment, nights carry a rhythm, responsibility, and camaraderie that is difficult to describe unless you have lived it. Night shift, though, is not for everyone. Although it has its special quality, it also comes with its own set of challenges.

One of the most obvious challenges of night shift is fatigue. Our bodies are wired to sleep while we are awake caring for patients, making important decisions, and responding to critical situations. Fatigue management becomes part of the discipline of the job learning how to care for ourselves so we can continue to care safely and effectively for others.

Another reality of nights is that there are often fewer immediate resources available. During the day, more departments are open and more staff readily accessible. At night, nurses, techs, ancillary staff, physicians, and other support personnel rely on one another in a different way. As a CNC, I see firsthand how these teams collaborate closely, problem-solve together, and step in wherever they are needed. It requires adaptability, trust, and a deep sense of shared responsibility.

Night shift can also carry a different emotional intensity. In the quieter hours of the hospital, difficult moments can feel more pronounced. Codes, unexpected changes in patient conditions, and supporting families during vulnerable times often happen when the world outside the hospital is sleeping. In those moments, I've witnessed extraordinary resilience among the staff who continue to show up with compassion and professionalism, no matter how demanding the circumstances.

But alongside these challenges is something incredibly special: the bond that develops among night shift teams during the early morning hours, despite any shortages or the onset of fatigue.

There is a camaraderie that grows from facing these experiences together. It’s the shared meals during a brief break, the coffee that fuels long hours, and the inside jokes that lighten the mood when the night has been particularly challenging. It’s the quiet support offered to a colleague after a difficult patient situation, the laughter that breaks tension, and the tears we share when moments are hard. We celebrate together, we grieve together, and over time, we become like family in the best possible way, leaning on one another not just professionally, but for our mental health and emotional well-being.

Those moments build trust, resilience, and lasting connections.

Over the years, I have come to understand why so many health care professionals feel deeply connected to night shift. Despite the long hours and the sacrifices that come with working when most of the world is asleep, there is a strong sense of teamwork, purpose, and human connection that defines the experience.

As a Clinical Nurse Coordinator, I am honored to work alongside professionals during these hours. Night shift teams including nurses, techs, ancillary staff, physicians, and other support personnel consistently embody dedication, resilience, compassion, collaboration, and patient-centered care.

To all of the colleagues who have shared these nights with me over the years, thank you. I am deeply grateful to be part of such an incredible team. Working alongside professionals who show unwavering compassion, skill, and dedication night after night has been one of the greatest privileges of my career.

I am also humbly grateful in another way. There have been a few moments in my life when I experienced this care not only as a colleague, but as a patient. Seeing that same compassion and professionalism from the other side only deepened my appreciation for the people who do this work every day. It reminded me just how meaningful and impactful our roles truly are.

The coffee, the codes, the emergency situations, the teamwork, the laughter, the tears, and the camaraderie are what make this work not only possible, but deeply meaningful.

Because night shift is more than a schedule.

It is showing up when the world is asleep and making a difference when it matters most.