Disturbing Conversation on Overweight Healthcare Workers

[FutureDNP2021]

I overheard a disturbing conversation of nurses who were saying that overweight people should not be working in healthcare. They were basically saying that patients do not respect health advice or treatment from a worker who is unhealthy themselves. I am posting this topic because I wonder if this is a shared sentiment among the medical field? Or from patients? Or has anyone experienced anything related to this? Like getting fired, or discriminated by either pateints or a facility and such? Are there ever clauses in facility contracts that employees must maintain optimal heath to represent the industry's interest? (I am in Vegas & yes casinos do enforce waitresses/dealers with a +/- 5 lbs. original hiring weight monitoring weekly). I hope this is not what nursing school meant by "take care of ourselves before we can take care of others." Honestly, I dont think like this but wonder if others in healthcare do? Is this really a "thing?"

BTW, they were referencing a theme of nurses who gained weight from emotional overeating. They were not referencing a physiological underlying condition. ~ Thank You ~

Why Are So Many Nurses and Healthcare Workers Overweight and Unhealthy?

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[sarose611]

Just as smoking was discouraged forhealthcare personnel, so is obesity. I don'think these referenced slightly overweight individuals. While our job does not lend itself to healthy eatingand exercise, I have heard patients verbalize tha they don't believe a "fatassed" nurse telling them to change their eating habits. There is validity on both sidesof the argument

[sarose611]

True. several studies have shown that wellness and BMI are not always occurring together. BMI does not take into.consideration muscle weight. And even high BMIs associated with fat, obesity, some are very healthy, their numbers look good, they are able to.exercise aswell as thinner people.

[joanna73, BSN, RN]

Within the last year, my weight has fluctuated 10 pounds. That may not seem like much, but this was never an issue if I exercised in moderation.

However, I'm 44 and menopause is around the corner. It's not so easy anymore, regardless of how well I eat. When you judge someone as overweight, you really don't know their history.

I'm also not working the floor, and that makes a HUGE difference. Wait and see, is all I can say.

[Ruby Vee, BSN]

Just as smoking was discouraged forhealthcare personnel, so is obesity. I don'think these referenced slightly overweight individuals. While our job does not lend itself to healthy eatingand exercise, I have heard patients verbalize tha they don't believe a "fatassed" nurse telling them to change their eating habits. There is validity on both sidesof the argument

Unless, as someone proposed up thread, you're only prepared to believe an accountant who has never bounced a personal check, a mechanic who doesn't work on cars newer than his own, a traffic cop who has never had a moving violation, or a preacher who has never sinned, there is only one side to this argument. As nurses, we provide patient education. If the patient chooses not to listen to or believe an overweight nurse, that is their choice even though it is an ignorant choice. For a patient (or a colleague) to refer to a nurse as "fat assed" is offensive.

[Conqueror+, BSN, RN]

Bull pucky.

You cannot tell by looking at somehow how healthy they are, or whether they've just lost 25% of their body weight. To imply otherwise is ludicrous and offensive.

As nurses, we have knowledge to share. We owe it to our patients to do the teaching they require. But we don't owe it to them to be role models of proper body habitus, even if we DIDN't have underlying medical conditions of our own that make losing weight difficult. Or have too many responsibilities to make getting to the gym or the grocery store for healthy meal plans likely or even possible.

If a patient doesn't want to take teaching from me on the relationship between obesity and diabetes, that's his choice. As noted before, it's an ignorant and offensive choice, but it is a valid choice.

So if I didn't want a financial advisor currently filing bankruptcy or marriage counseling from someone on their third divorce or a fat personal trainer would I be ignorant and offensive or exercising common sense?

[Conqueror+, BSN, RN]

Unless, as someone proposed up thread, you're only prepared to believe an accountant who has never bounced a personal check, a mechanic who doesn't work on cars newer than his own, a traffic cop who has never had a moving violation, or a preacher who has never sinned, there is only one side to this argument. As nurses, we provide patient education. If the patient chooses not to listen to or believe an overweight nurse, that is their choice even though it is an ignorant choice. For a patient (or a colleague) to refer to a nurse as "fat assed" is offensive.

Sorry, I did not see this before I posted. There is a difference between someone who has failed in the past and is now successful and someone who has never done well and only has excuses. How can you really trust their advice?

[Here.I.Stand, BSN, RN]

Says one who gained some weight through comfort eating and ******** still has more to go, but has implemented an eating and exercise plan FOR MYSELF

That should say, has lost some but still has more to go... I have no goal for gain. But I'll stand by my assertion that my physique is not the concern of patients. :)

[HikingNurse8789]

For me there is a difference between having a few extra pounds vs. Becoming so overweight that a person can no longer do their job. I have worked with a few nurses where others did have to pick up the slack for them but they were morbidly obese and unwilling to do a good job, nor necessarily uncapable. I had to quit smoking 3 years ago to stay in the field, I'm glad I did it know but it certainly felt like an infringement on my personal rights at that time. I never smoked before or during work, wasn't on their insurance, and no one even knew. So I wonder when a normal BMI is going to become the norm to stay employed, I honestly don't believe that's so far off in the future. My last job let us know we were no loner allowed to bring junk food to work lol we had to eat bad food in our cars. The only positive thing about work enforced regulations is that it does work, I went smoke free, lost 50 lbs, workout regularly, and am the healthiest I have ever been so while I'm not salty about it anymore I am curious to see what the healthcare field bans next because I'm thinking its going to be weight related.

[Phoenix16, RN, MSN]

Why are we hiding behind the fact that we sometimes do not get lunch breaks, and that we have to pick at grub we can find to eat at midnight? Seriously, Nursing is not the only profession where people work through their lunch breaks, so please just stop that nonsense. This is not the only stressful job out there people. I know, I get it, nursing requires us to be super humans, but when you are out of work just about every year because you have to do knee and hip surgery because your little joints can not handle the 400lbs you're carry around; clearly that is your body telling you that it's just too much! Yes, one being obese does not mean that you are not capable, experienced, and possibly knows as much as any MD; but that advanced knowledge may not be what is needed when a code is called when you can not move fast enough to help save the patients that needs our help. I get it hypothyroidism, menopause are a few things that can affect your weight, but what about those that do not have any of those health concerns? I know I couldn't sleep at night if I knew my obesity prevented me from effectively doing my job, and a patient died because of that; could you?

[TheCommuter, BSN, RN]

Seriously, Nursing is not the only profession where people work through their lunch breaks, so please just stop that nonsense.

Your point is salient...long distance truck drivers routinely skip breaks and work though lunch, yet members of that occupation have one of the highest obesity rates in the United States.

It is not nonsense...

[Rexie]

Your point is salient...long distance truck drivers routinely skip breaks and work though lunch, yet members of that occupation have one of the highest obesity rates in the United States.

It is not nonsense...

The trucker who is working through his lunch break is most likely eating while he drives. Due to the nature of the work and not being allowed to eat at the nurses station, nurses who work through lunch are skipping meals altogether. When I worked 8 hours shifts, I would do this regularly. Not that I work 12's, I will pitch a fit to get a meal break because I don't function well going without food for that long. I am not overweight and I pay no attention to BMI, but I have found that my relationship to food has changed since I became a nurse. When I first began, I had to work to keep weight on and now that I'm post menopausal, I have to work to keep it off. I find that the stress of work and the hours make healthy eating a real challenge, which I'm sure is a concern for many occupations.

[Phoenix16, RN, MSN]

Your point is salient...long distance truck drivers routinely skip breaks and work though lunch, yet members of that occupation have one of the highest obesity rates in the United States.

It is not nonsense...

I disagree; because it is not a truck drivers job to be trying to convince that they need to change their eating habit/lifestyle; it is ours as nurses. He is not looked at as a hippocrite if he's 600lbs because his job does not involve anything to do with health. I can just imagine that conversation between a 400lbs truck driver, and a nurse who weighs the same trying to convince him to change his eating habit lol. Our profession that we choose sometimes dictates how we have to live our lives; it probably shouldn't be that way, but that's the way it is.

Clearly this is a topic that everyone will not see eye to eye on, people will always defend their point of view, and I do not think this topic will change that.

We have to see that it is a problem people; denying it does not make it go away. The next thing is they will be charging extra on airplanes and buses if the person is taking up too much space. How we choose to live our lives should be up to us, but some profession requires almost perfection. Just look what's going on now in the election; one could argue "who cares about stupid emails if she can run the country" and another would say "who cares if his wife posed nude with other women" that's because if you are professing to be so great; you just have to look and act the part. Do u think anyone cares if their plumber or gardner is overweight? I don't think so! When you chose healthcare you are held to a higher standard. That's the truth and trying to defend obesity will not change that.