Love nursing, afraid of what it will do to my body?

Nurses General Nursing

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Hello wonderful nurse friends!

I am wondering if any RNs share this concern with me... I am almost one year into our profession (I was a nursing assistant for years before) working night shift on a large cardiac interventional/telemetry floor. Our shift length is between 14-15 hours (12's are no such thing, we are understaffed and the expectations for documentation are just not conducive to getting out on time, additionally our entire unit needs to be reeducated on how to give/receive report, giving report takes over an hour = insanity) ANYWAY...

I lack energy on my days off and living a healthy lifestyle is VERY important to me... before I joined this profession I ran half marathons, went to the gym a minimum of 4 days a week, did yoga, cooked my own meals daily and it seems that I cant even manage on my days off the do any of this anymore... I feel myself falling into the rut on poor eating, low energy, chronic back pain, high stress... It seems that our profession is unforgivable in terms of wear and tear on the body... so many nurses I work with are over weight, over tired, limping(!)

I LOVE this profession (even though it's killing me physically), but I also value health (physical and mental) and an active lifestyle and recognize how of this type of strain could affect me long term... and to be honest I'm scared! I want to run with my future children, hell I want to run when I'm 70!

Any shared concerns or thoughts?

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Your concerns are spot on. Gain your year of experience and find a position that doesn't beat you up. Your facility will not stop flogging the nurses.

As far as report... verbal or taped report CAN take an hour. Develop a written report sheet to solve that problem.

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Specializes in ICU.
Your concerns are spot on. Gain your year of experience and find a position that doesn't beat you up. Your facility will not stop flogging the nurses.

As far as report... verbal or taped report CAN take an hour. Develop a written report sheet to solve that problem.

Definitely. And there is a really good thread on this forum from a nurse who also wanted to be really healthy and feel good. She goes into detail about how she managed it too. Found it!

https://allnurses.com/general-nursing-discussion/from-night-shift-1046263.html

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