Setting a bad example?

[mattcastens]

I am curious about what people think about working nurses who are extremely out of shape, obese, smokers, etc.

I work in a CVICU where a good portion of the nurses are overweight and out of shape, as well as a couple of smokers. I can't imagine that this makes a good impression on patients when these nurses sit down for teaching about risk factors, or to the general public when they come to visit.

I'm not saying that I am a prime example of fitness, and I'm not saying that nurses need to be triathletes to set a good example. I also realize that there is the added problem of addiction that is hard to overcome.

I guess I don't know what the answer is, but I do know that it bothers me. Thoughts anyone?

[3651bht]

That's what I wanted to talk about FOOD...

bobbi

[hapeewendy]

it is a fact of life that in all/any aspect of a persons life they are judged, predjudged sometimes based on their appearance.

whether it be fat , skinny, tall, short whatever, the hospital is no exception to these judgements.

I can understand the point trying to be made about smokers and overweight nurses being less effective health teachers etc. however, having been a patient, to tell you the truth , when the nurse came in to do health teaching post surgery I wanted to get better, and quickly, her looks had no bearing on what she was saying, she could have had a third eye poking out from her forehead and it wouldnt have mattered to me because I was LISTENING to what she was saying as opposed to forming opinions of her in my mind.

I think if we examine everyones lifestyle in detail there will be some unhealthy aspect to each and every nurses lifestyle...smoking, overeating are just the easiest two to pick on... its not healthy to starve yourself either in the pursuit of being thin is it ? yet we assume that a thinner nurse is a healtiher one despite the fact that she may only eat take out on the fly and regularly skips meals. what about poor personal hygeine? i think that is even worse than being a smoker or overweight, when a nurse shows up with an unkempt look or dirty uniform (it happens , I've seen it) that sets a worse example to me than someone who may be overweight in a nice clean uniform, and so what if someone pops down on their break to have a smoke..... everyone knows that smoking is a hard habit to kick.

I am not justifying being overweight or being a smoker, I am neither to tell you all the truth, although I have gained some weight since becoming a nurse etc etc. I just think that nurses need to support one another, whatever size or lifestyle habits might be involved.

you may not agree but lets put your lifestyle under the microscope for review then...

one more thing, right now on our med/surg floor we have a patient who weighs 240 lbs, overweight clearly, well this patient has the best lab values and vitals you could ever see, yes being overweight puts you at a greater risk of heart disease etc etc but so do other lifestyle choices we all make.

I for one hope the nurses that Matt works with dont know his feelings on this issue, that would probably make for a poor work dynamic and seem that he - along with the rest of the world- is passing judgement on them based on their weight.

[Q.]

Originally posted by fergus51

Mcl4 on a L&D or PP floor a lot of teaching can be done at night because these women are not going to be getting any sleep anyways. Some are awake to breastfeed, others are in the transitional stage and getting their vitals done every fifteen minutes. A lot of new moms don't get the same level of prenatal care you obviously had and we have to grab every teachable moment there is whether it's 3 am and they have a baby on their breast or it's one in the afternoon. I understand how it can be different from other floors, but teaching in the middle of the night is not unusual on an OB unit.

Thank you, Fergus. :)

[fergus51]

You're welcome Suzy:)

[VAC]

fergus and suzy,

I once worked on a mother baby unit and we did plenty of teaching on the night shift. Most patients were out of there in 24 hours, maybe 48, so we had little choice.

MC14,

Babies are not always born during convienent teaching hours, and only babies and moms on television get to sleep through the night.

[VAC]

Originally posted by 3651bht

someone who is overweight is the best person to teach another about nutrition... Been there done that.. Also, unless you have walked a mile in my shoes don't even pretend to understand me... B]

I think someone who has been overweight and kept the weight off would be a better teacher.

[RNKitty]

I work at an alternative birth center where the women stay 6 -24 hours post partum. The teaching gets done during teachable moments, regardless of the time of day. LOL Suzy and Fergus!

[thisnurse]

seeing as how customer service is such a big part of our jobs now, how bout we let patients order their nurses from a nurse menu

1. blonde, brunette, redhead, other

2. diploma, adn, bsn, masters, other

3. smoking, nonsmoking,other

4. petite, small, medium, large, extra large, other

5. PERKY, serious, ditzy, other

6. male, female, other

[mcl4]

Originally posted by fergus51

Mcl4 on a L&D or PP floor a lot of teaching can be done at night because these women are not going to be getting any sleep anyways. Some are awake to breastfeed, others are in the transitional stage and getting their vitals done every fifteen minutes. A lot of new moms don't get the same level of prenatal care you obviously had and we have to grab every teachable moment there is whether it's 3 am and they have a baby on their breast or it's one in the afternoon. I understand how it can be different from other floors, but teaching in the middle of the night is not unusual on an OB unit.

The point was that significant lifestyle changes are not appropriate to be taught on other floors at night. Lecturing about the negatives of smoking or poor eatting habbits are not done while a patient has been sleeping at two in the morning.

How much detail do you go into with a patient in the middle of the night. I've floated to ob and I've brought babies to their mothers. After checking their wrist bands/baby identification band, I've asked if they needed any assistance with bottle/breastfeeding and most are pretty comfortable with feeding their babies. Most of the moms are too tired to even turn on a light so I'm still questioning how effective you are with moms that are extremely tired and can't imagine spending a lengthy time going into detail with what their exericse routine should be in the middle of the nights. In fact, with all my children (several), not one ob nurse (and there were many) told me any facts about diet and exercise other then I need to increase my fluid intake.

There were television programs as well as classes that were optional during the day hours if you wish to attend them.

[mcl4]

Originally posted by RNKitty

I work at an alternative birth center where the women stay 6 -24 hours post partum. The teaching gets done during teachable moments, regardless of the time of day. LOL Suzy and Fergus!

At six hours, how much teaching, if any, can be done.

[mcl4]

MC14,

Babies are not always born during convienent teaching hours, and only babies and moms on television get to sleep through the night. [/b]

You grab any minute or hour you can during the night to sleep. Sleep deprivation, even PP, isn't healthy.

[mcl4]

Originally posted by Susy K

Thank you, Fergus. :)

And you still haven't address the pertinent orginal issue of other floors talking about lifestyle changes which is different then teaching a mother how to breastfeed. I'm guessing you don't float too much outside of ob?

I