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?
No one is arguing against taking care of ourselves or having personal goals regarding our health. What we are objecting to is the assumption that:
a. You can discern our personal goals or level of self care based on physical appearance.
b. That you get to dictate those goals and self-care priorities.
c. That you have some god-given right to intrude on your colleagues' lives and pontificate on another nurse's "duty" to live that life according to your personal ideas of professional virtue - or be considered incompetent.
Competency, compassion and capability to get the job done are what matter to me. I'd rather get sound education from an overweight nurse than take bad advice from a slim nurse. Just because someone is thin or obese it does not show what kind of nursing knowledge they possess.
Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.
Ok. I hear that. I am a nurse and WAS a nun. But putting being a nun aside, nursing is a profession, not just a job. Or I would hope that's the case for those in the field. I have no judgements about overweight nurses not being proficient at their jobs and have a lot of friends that are overweight nurses. I'm just saying if we're going to instruct people in what they need to do differently to improve and maintain their health, we need to be willing to do the same. I think that is a rational and reasonable thing to think and say.
We instruct people in what they need to do to improve and maintain their health because we have information that presumably they lack. Since a patient cannot tell if we're doing those same things just by looking at us, I don't feel compelled to "do the same." Nursing is a job, even a profession. But it is not a calling and it is not our responsibility to model excellent health and perfect compliance with diet and exercise guidelines. Even if we DID model perfect compliance, there is no way for the patient to know whether we bypassed the Krispy Kreme and ate the yogurt for breakfast. And the fat nurse may have walked an hour to get to work and bypassed the Krispy Kreme while the thin, healthy looking nurse may have driven 10 blocks to work and eaten TWO Krispy Kremes on the way. There's just no way to know.
I think what is rational and reasonable is to get off your high horse and stop telling your colleagues how they should look and how they should live.
Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.
No one is arguing against taking care of ourselves or having personal goals regarding our health. What we are objecting to is the assumption that:
a. You can discern our personal goals or level of self care based on physical appearance.
b. That you get to dictate those goals and self-care priorities.
c. That you have some god-given right to intrude on your colleagues' lives and pontificate on another nurse's "duty" to live that life according to your personal ideas of professional virtue - or be considered incompetent.
There is a lot of defensiveness going on here and it's needless. Nurses are people, too. I'm slender and always have been but I know that's not easy for everyone. We are who we are and that's the way it is. Knowledge and doing are 2 different things, and one person here pointed out the issues with PCOS and metabolic syndrome. It's not always within our grasp, our control, so judgement is never a good thing, especially from other nurses. Do we think that overweight nurses have never tried anything to lose weight? Really? Like it should somehow be easy. When teaching someone it's ok on some levels to acknowledge your own struggles as long as it's not something that's dwelled on. Patients appreciate it and it gives them a way to relate, like we're all in this together. We're taught that judgment is not a good thing so that should also extend to our peers. As nurses we are aware of the issues causing obesity and shaming really shows ignorance.
Specializes in Critical Care; Cardiac; Professional Development.
Thank goodness my employer and my patients do not agree with all this purposefully blind prejudice. I work as a bariatric nurse educator. I am morbidly obese by BMI. I make uncommonly good money, have fantastic work hours, enjoy a multitude of perks and feel valued and appreciated every day. I giggle inside a bit that I have the dream job I do when I think of all of you saying I should not even be allowed to be a nurse. I was recruited to apply and offered a 10k bonus as incentive to accept the position. How you like them apples? A fat bariatric nurse educator, oh my!!
My patients feel my compassion, my empathy and my hope for them. That is all they care about. In a world that considers size discrimination okay and obesity to be a character flaw, encountering a healthcare professional that understands obesity is a very poorly understood disease rather than a statement about the validity of an individual's habits goes far FAR further than the size of my wardrobe when it comes to therapeutic teaching. Obese people are used to being lectured, marginalized and judged. They could care less about my weight. They are simply glad to finally be met with intense kindness, camaraderie and hope. My weight is on its way down and my life as a nurse is fulfilling and happy. You can squawk all you like about my lack of qualification. The proof is in the low carb pudding as far as I am concerned. I get to witness and participate in changing lives for the better every single day and know I am part of that. I do not need your validation. Their tearful thanks and little smiles of renewed optimism weighs more than your judgement. So do their before and after pictures. So does my paycheck. My ability to understand where they are coming from does more than those who have never been obese (or those who have and now think they have all the answers) can comprehend. They can't even hear you over your sanctimony.
People don't care how much you think you know. They care how much you care. The greatest deficit in treating obesity is not in the fitness of nurses. It is in the dearth of compassion and the prevalence of judgement throughout our communities and invading our healthcare workers, as evidenced by this thread. I get paid a lot of money because of what I help my patients feel. You may be fit as a fiddle but your humility and compassion muscles are weak. Perhaps add strength of character to your personal fitness goals?
I will feel bad (sarcasm) about your resentment of me all the way to the bank after I wake up Tuesday looking forward to going back to work after the long weekend. I am fat. I love my job, my patients and my employer. I am fat, yet they value me, listen to me and share with me. How the h-e- doublehockeysticks did that happen?
Thank goodness my employer and my patients do not agree with all this purposefully blind prejudice. I work as a bariatric nurse educator. I am morbidly obese by BMI. I make uncommonly good money, have fantastic work hours, enjoy a multitude of perks and feel valued and appreciated every day. I giggle inside a bit that I have the dream job I do when I think of all of you saying I should not even be allowed to be a nurse. I was recruited to apply and offered a 10k bonus as incentive to accept the position. How you like them apples? A fat bariatric nurse educator, oh my!!
My patients feel my compassion, my empathy and my hope for them. That is all they care about. In a world that considers size discrimination okay and obesity to be a character flaw, encountering a healthcare professional that understands obesity is a very poorly understood disease rather than a statement about the validity of an individual's habits goes far FAR further than the size of my wardrobe when it comes to therapeutic teaching. Obese people are used to being lectured, marginalized and judged. They could care less about my weight. They are simply glad to finally be met with intense kindness, camaraderie and hope. My weight is on its way down and my life as a nurse is fulfilling and happy. You can squawk all you like about my lack of qualification. The proof is in the low carb pudding as far as I am concerned. I get to witness and participate in changing lives for the better every single day and know I am part of that. I do not need your validation. Their tearful thanks and little smiles of renewed optimism weighs more than your judgement. So do their before and after pictures. So does my paycheck. My ability to understand where they are coming from does more than those who have never been obese (or those who have and now think they have all the answers) can comprehend. They can't even hear you over your sanctimony.
People don't care how much you think you know. They care how much you care. The greatest deficit in treating obesity is not in the fitness of nurses. It is in the dearth of compassion and the prevalence of judgement throughout our communities and invading our healthcare workers, as evidenced by this thread. I get paid a lot of money because of what I help my patients feel. You may be fit as a fiddle but your humility and compassion muscles are weak. Perhaps add strength of character to your personal fitness goals?
I will feel bad (sarcasm) about your resentment of me all the way to the bank after I wake up Tuesday looking forward to going back to work after the long weekend. I am fat. I love my job, my patients and my employer. I am fat, yet they value me, listen to me and share with me. How the h-e- doublehockeysticks did that happen?
I have recently decided to have bariatric surgery myself and I would LOVE to have someone just like you as my educator. Your patients are blessed.
I have not read all the responses; but, for me it comes down to this:
We nurses (I'm still in school) were professionally trained and given the knowledge on how to live a healthy life. It would be very odd to tell a person they need to lose weight or quit drinking and smoking if we are doing it ourselves. How are we credible?
...and by the way, I know what you're thinking...I'm still in school, what do I know...I'm too young to know about menopause and all the other previous excuses. Well, I'm in my mid 50's and I have been working blue collar jobs all of my life. Now, I'm changing direction and careers.
Why would someone go to a fat doctor to learn about Diabetes? Why would someone go to an Oncologist who smokes cigarettes in- between patients?
As an older person, I see how the general public judges people, it's natural. Most people judge by appearance only because that may be all they have to go on. For that reason, I am going to try hard to eat healthy and lift weights as much as I can so that I can be mentally / physically / esthetically healthy. After all, it's going to be hard enough to get someone to hire me at an older age anyway, once I get out of school!!
If I am reading your post correctly, you are not yet a registered nurse and are still in school. If I am not mistaken, it is against the Terms of Service to use credentials you have not yet earned, such as what is used in your screen name. How are you credible in what you just posted?
Thank you for your understanding. However a huge study was just completed on nursing and bullies. Sadly nursing had one of the highest rates of work place bullying than ANY other profession.I actually was a participant in one of these studies because I had so many student nurses come to me crying about other nurses while I was proctoring.
"AND, why are you here?" CLEARLY, their choices were less that perfect. Thinks the nurse of patient! More than half of my colleagues would disappear for a smoke break and coffee. They stayed "skinny" never eating a meal because here in Canada, you can not smoke within 20 meters of any health facility. Not even in your car. So they would walk down the block. So much for your .5 break! But somehow they are honoured for being slim while I am being slagging off for my weight!
Theres an awful amount of judgement and shaming coming from both sides on this thread...how the hell can people work as a team with all of this pre-judgement... not all fat people are incompetent, uncapable and lazy, not all skinny people are bulimic chain smoking, substance using, control freaks...these qualities (or lack of) should be apparent to an observer after one shift. Im getting tired of this thread...
heron, ASN, RN
4,653 Posts
No one is arguing against taking care of ourselves or having personal goals regarding our health. What we are objecting to is the assumption that:
a. You can discern our personal goals or level of self care based on physical appearance.
b. That you get to dictate those goals and self-care priorities.
c. That you have some god-given right to intrude on your colleagues' lives and pontificate on another nurse's "duty" to live that life according to your personal ideas of professional virtue - or be considered incompetent.