A nurse health?

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Do you feel since you have become a nurse you get sick more often?:clown:

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Specializes in Med-Surg.

No. I wasn't a sickly person before coming a nurse and am not sickly now. I haven't been sick since I got the 24 hour flu a year ago. That was the first time in many years I was that sick.

The stress sometimes gets to me and fatigues me. I've had more GI upsets the last few years, but that seems to be under control since I switched from night shift to day shift.

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I think I've probably gotten sick less often. I had a pretty sedentary job/lifestyle before nursing and I guess just being a nurse forces me to be more active and as a result a little healthier...or so I'd like to think. I've thought about bringing a pedometer in to work. I feel like I really log some miles. I honestly have trouble remembering the last time I was flat on my back sick. I often hear people attributing coming down with the flu or bad colds to the fact that they just started clinicals or they just started working, but I think one has little to do with the other. If you take good care of yourself (eating and sleeping the way you should), maybe throw some multivitamins in there, and most importantly wash your hands a whole lot, everything will be ok.:nurse:

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Specializes in Acute rehab/geriatrics/cardiac rehab.
Do you feel since you have become a nurse you get sick more often?:clown:

Actually, I've been healthier since becoming a nurse and I exercise more (up and down halls, in and out of rooms, it's better than jogging, burns calories too :chuckle)

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No, no real change - I agree with Tweety except for the GI stuff.

steph

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Specializes in Education, Administration, Magnet.

I am sick less often since I started working in a hospital. I think my body got resistent to all those bacteria, since I get exposed to them every day.

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I think I'm sick about the same. Whenever I'm really sick, though, I can't connect it to anything I've been exposed to at the hospital.

I think some people get more sick when they are stressed, especially in nursing school when you don't get as much sleep as you should.

Jessica

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Thanks for the information. :nurse:

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Specializes in Community Health Nurse.

No. I didn't start getting sick until my latter years in nursing (getting older sucks), especially working night shift when I started having major GI problems [ ie. nausea, vomiting, and/or diarrhea at the drop of a hat] :uhoh3:

Since age seventeen, I have a pretty good attendance record when it comes to employment. Stayed pretty healthy for the most part. Today, I have lots of muscle and bone pains that are annoying, but everything else is in check.

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Specializes in Med Surg, Hospice, Home Health.

No, if anything, I am sick less because i'm exposed to so much...

linda

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Specializes in Pediatric ER.

when i first started as a nurse tech in my dept. (pedi er), i was sick alot (had the flu about 5 times-and i got the flu shot, too), but now that i've been there over 2 years, i think i'm less sick than i used to be. when i do get sick, i can almost always connect it to one of my patients. just last week i was sick for a few days, and i'm almost positive i know who i got it from. i also have to take into account that i work in an area that has alot of contagious stuff floating around (flu, strep, v/d....), so i don't get too upset or surprised when i do come down with something. like someone else on here said, handwashing is key!

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I see a lot of people get sick more often during their first year in ER after being exposed to every last little thing...seems to get better after that though.

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