doea nursing cause health problems?

[Jay1900]

I keep hearing that being a nurse can cause health problems and I want to know what kind? Is there anything that can stop these problems from occurring?

[Ruby Vee, BSN]

Everything causes cancer these days. Heck, even my local drinking water has been found to have trace radioactive elements in it.

But to answer your question, orthopedic injuries - usually back. A bad back is going to take me off the floor much sooner than I've anticipated, unfortunately.

I've had the back issues, too, and the surgery to prove it. But other jobs cause back issues as well -- sedentary jobs cause back injuries, working construction, plumbing, farming, driving a truck -- it seems that just about anything can cause one back issue or another.

[Purple_roses]

Here you go:

Medscape: Medscape Access

[Night shift work and cancer risk: a literature review]. - PubMed - NCBI (literature review - plenty of sources).

http://scholar.google.com/scholar_url?url=https://blog.lsgc.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/05.-Blask-Melatonin-Cancer-Review.pdf&hl=en&sa=X&scisig=AAGBfm0py206C_i1KylpoNTwa-2PXjvLeA&nossl=1&oi=scholarr

Although I must wonder if for some people who just happen to be born as "owls", getting up at early morning at regular basis would produce the same, or more severe, effects.

I'll bet it also has a lot to do with how night shift workers handle their sleep schedule. Some people sacrifice too much sleep in order to have a day life. (I'll probably be one of them, as I'm switching to nights soon. Oh well.)

[Purple_roses]

I've had the back issues, too, and the surgery to prove it. But other jobs cause back issues as well -- sedentary jobs cause back injuries, working construction, plumbing, farming, driving a truck -- it seems that just about anything can cause one back issue or another.

Yep yep. I think the key is listening to your body and giving it a break when it needs it. One of my coworkers is having awful knee problems. I'm currently trying to convince her to let everyone help her with strenuous activities at work and also trying to convince her to see a provider. We take care of everyone but ourselves sometimes!

[guest52816]

I think the night shift link to multiple diseases is probably related to obesity. I work night shift, and it can be difficult to make sure you eat properly. It takes real effort. I see lots of fellow night shift nurses and techs eating fast-food/take-out on a daily basis (while working). You can't do that. You will gain weight and predispose yourself to DM and HTN. And there is a link between obesity and breast cancer. Estrogen loves fat!

Night shift work requires you to engage in self-care.

[Fiona59]

Not sure how the OP's question demonstrates "crippling anxiety" as PPs mentioned.

Orthopedic injuries are a big risk factor in hospital work, which is why they make us take 'safe pt handling' class annually to try to reduce our risks to our bodies.

They came back and edited their post.

[Ruby Vee, BSN]

I'll bet it also has a lot to do with how night shift workers handle their sleep schedule. Some people sacrifice too much sleep in order to have a day life. (I'll probably be one of them, as I'm switching to nights soon. Oh well.)

I'm sure it has a lot to do with how people handle their sleeping schedule and their meal schedule. Although, after working nights off and on for 40 years, I'm now older and heavier. Of course, I was 40 years younger before I started working nights off and on, and aging all by itself tends to make people older and heavier.

[AvaRose]

I have idiopathic HTN now. No abnormal lab findings leading the doctor to believe that it was stress induced. Although after 5 months on medication now I have a fairly normal (120-130) systolic BP but my diastolic is barely keeping above 60 (which doesn't make working very fun some days since I get random symptomatic hypotensive episodes like on Thursday when I had to go home 5 hours into shift). I never had HTN before nursing school and my first job.