Setting a bad example?

thisnurse · Dec 29, 2001

oh geez, do we have to add "setting an example" to our job descriptions now too?

oh no.

Q. · Dec 30, 2001

Originally posted by mcl4
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I've yet to see a nurse at two in the morning when patients are not fully awake start teaching lifestyle changes which include how they need to exercise, quite smoking or cut back on their fat intake. Patient assessments are done, needs are met, and we encourage rest which is very important part of recovery.

I disagree with this. I worked third shift labor and delivery/post partum and nursery. Teaching was done at every opportunity - whether it was about breastfeeding, exercise, nutrition, etc. As a nurse teaching is one of the most important aspects; it differentiates you from a UAP for example. You need to accomplish teaching at every available moment. I am shocked that you don't practice this as well. :confused:

magRN · Dec 30, 2001

As long as the nurse who cares for me is clean, compaaionate, neat, and esp. knowledgable...I don't care what size he or she may be. I just want good care!:)

Jenny P · Dec 30, 2001

We nurses are also human, and we are as susceptible to human failure as any of our patients are. As long as we don't look (and act!) like Jabba the Hutt; why should it matter to our patients and co-workers as long as we look and act like professionals and try to do our job to the best of our ability? I do feel that there has to be a tie-in with being caretakers; that we take care of everyone else before ourselves, and maybe don't have time or energy to care for ourselves when we finally get to the end of the list.

mcl4 · Dec 30, 2001

Originally posted by Susy K

I disagree with this. I worked third shift labor and delivery/post partum and nursery. Teaching was done at every opportunity - whether it was about breastfeeding, exercise, nutrition, etc. As a nurse teaching is one of the most important aspects; it differentiates you from a UAP for example. You need to accomplish teaching at every available moment. I am shocked that you don't practice this as well.

Do you think telling a smoker that smoking is bad (with the reasons why it is bad for you) and they should stop or a person who is not their ideal weight that eatting fatty foods is not good for you is a new concept for them. How many patients would be receptive to this type of teaching of major life long lifestyle changes in the middle of the night when they are not fully awake.

EXOTIC NURSE, RN · Dec 30, 2001

Everyone is not meant to be skinny or small or petite. There are a variety of sizes of all things in life and so on that note. It is the quality care one as a nurse give the patients we are not parents and they are not our children and we as nurses have our own lifestyles outside of work so if one chooses to smoke or if one is pleasing plump then it is not up to anyone to judge it is a personal thing and when that person is ready to stop smoking they will and when the pleasing plump person decides to lose weight they will....I am pleasingly plump and I am very confident of myself and my teachings and my performance as a nurse although I am not a smoker but that is my choice.

3651bht · Dec 30, 2001

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... And like others are so fond of telling me Maybe you should go somewhere else.. Over half of the American public is overweight and I wish you luck in finding a skinny environment.. I hear they are hiring in the gastric bypass field...

bobbi ( I'm here too.:))

mcl4 · Dec 30, 2001

Originally posted by Susy K

I disagree with this. I worked third shift labor and delivery/post partum and nursery. Teaching was done at every opportunity - whether it was about breastfeeding, exercise, nutrition, etc. As a nurse teaching is one of the most important aspects; it differentiates you from a UAP for example. You need to accomplish teaching at every available moment. I am shocked that you don't practice this as well.

I am shocked you wouldn't consider the middle of the night a time for patients to sleep. If you read a previous post, pertinent teaching is done on the night shift. Sleep is very important to aide in recovery and more and more studies are being done on the effects of poor sleep patterns related to health. My own experience with having children at three different area hospitals, diet and exercise was addressed during the day/evening hours when I was fully awake. In fact, nutrition as well as exercise was taught long before delivery with the assistance of my ob/gyn office personnel and my own research.

RNKitty · Dec 30, 2001

Yes, I feel we do have some obligation to teach our patients healthy lifestyle habits - at the appropriate time when they are receptive to learning. How about teaching by example. NOT the nurses setting the example, but the HOSPITAL CAFETERIA AND FOOD SERVICE. Do they have to send up crap loaded with chemicals and refined foods? It is really hard to teach "whole grains" when the closest thing to a whole grain on the plate is a refined, bleached white flour pasta with a refined bleached white flour roll. :rolleyes:

How about sending up 5 servings of fruit and vegetables a day? How about clear liquid diet trays being real vege broth, not rehydrated chemicals. :rolleyes: After all, the hospital employs nutritionists who have studied the subject extensively. Lets use them as part of the team instead of making our job that much harder.

It would be so much easier to convince the cardiac patients that good healthy food can be simple, wholesome, and tasty if the hospital would send them good food. Plus, if the cafeteria offered something other than fried foods for the staff, do you think they could make healthier choices as well? Let's not add to our job description - let's utilize all the resources available. :)

psnurse · Dec 30, 2001

What a ludicrous bunch of nonsense. My job is not to set the perfect example.... my job is to present the facts. The decision about what to do with those facts lies with the patient. There is personal responsibility involved when making health care decisions.

It is unrealistic to think that someone is going to leave the hospital and make a drastic turn around no matter what their nurse looks like or smells like. The fact is lifestyle changes are very difficult to initiate and maintain. Speaking from experience, I can say these things and then get into the area of strategy because to introduce a whole lot of changes at once just dooms a patient to failure.

I work often in a cardiac unit and advocate for patients to picks 3 or 4 things that they are confident they can change immediately and to build on those when they go home. This is a much more logical approach than the all of nothing approach I hear touted so often.

My bad habits often open up avenues of conversation that more healthy nurses might not be privy to. Patients have even said, "That other nurse asked me about that, but how would she know anything about it?" I always say that she might know more than you think before diving in head first. I think the same courtesy should come from the "healthy nurses".

I don't strive for the perfect body, simply a body that is strong enough to do what I want it to do. And it does. I shovel snow, lots of it this past week. I walk, I run, I lift, and I can run circles around several of the "healthy" nurses I know.

fergus51 · Dec 30, 2001

Originally posted by mcl4

I am shocked you wouldn't consider the middle of the night a time for patients to sleep. If you read a previous post, pertinent teaching is done on the night shift. Sleep is very important to aide in recovery and more and more studies are being done on the effects of poor sleep patterns related to health. My own experience with having children at three different area hospitals, diet and exercise was addressed during the day/evening hours when I was fully awake. In fact, nutrition as well as exercise was taught long before delivery with the assistance of my ob/gyn office personnel and my own research.

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.

fiestynurse · Dec 30, 2001

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