'Unhealthy' nurses...bad examples?

Nurses General Nursing

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I hope this post doesn't offend anyone,but I have noticed a lot of the nurses I know are overweight,smokers or both. Obviously people become nurses because they completed school,and are qualified to do their jobs,which has nothing to do with physical appearance or vices.

Its common knowledge that smoking and/or obesity can kill you,but I would think those in the healthcare field would have a more acute idea of how health is jeopardized by these things. I am asking one out of curiousity,and secondly because I myself am overweight. I was just wondering if anybody has ever gotten any flak from patients or higher-ups? Or do you feel you aren't taken as seriously because of how you look,or because you need a cigarette break? I hope this hasn't happened,since its discriminatory and wrong,but we all know that doesn't mean much! :(

i am new to nursing and i too have noticed that many of my coworkers are considered "overweight" by conventional standards and have given this some thought. it seems that most nurses on my unit are on their feet moving 90% of the day. they are certainly burning more kcal than they have time to consume during our 12hr shifts. i am beginning to think about stress levels and cortisol release being a primary culprit in this overweight phenomena. could this be a contributing factor?

there are alot of factors that contribute to someones weight:

if energy in is greater than energy out, the result is weight gain.

1. food choices---poor verses good food choices. eating more fruits and vegetables leaves less room for other high calorie foods.

example: bagel: 135 calories: 1g fat, 0mg cholesterol

glazed donut: 210 calories; 11g fat, 25mg cholesterol

potato chips (small bag) ; 150 calories; 10g fat; 0mg cholesterol

pretzels (small bag) 100 calories; 0.5g fat; 0mg cholesterol

baked potato: 310 calories; 1g fat; 0mg cholesterol

french fries: 350 calories; 16g fat, omg cholesterol

fat: [color=#4d4871]1 gram = 9 calories[color=#4d4871]

protein: [color=#4d4871]1 gram = 4 calories

carbohydrates: [color=#4d4871]1 gram = 4 calories

alcohol: [color=#4d4871]1 gram = 7 calories

[color=#4d4871]high fat foods should be eaten less often.

2. lifestyle--sedentary vs active lifestyle, smoking, eating out etc.

3. economic level- research shows that low-income people have a higher incidence of obesity----are more prone to buying fast food, are not exposed to nutrition education including reading food labels, do not have easy access to fresh produce

4. genetics: it plays a major role than most people want to believe. some people have a higher rate of metabolism than others. personally i have a high metabolism and there are times i try to gain some weight with no success. on the other hand, i have a sister with a slow metabolism who tends to gain more weight despite the fact that we eat the same foods, and i sometimes eat larger portions than she does.

5. emotional stability: stressis sometimes associated with emotional eating. food is a source of comfort for some people when they are stressed out, angry, lonely, bored, etc. doing somthing else that you enjoy like taking a walk, reading a book , rather than eating when stressed out helps.

i work with a lot of overweight clients and taking simple steps one a time always seems to work best. i make my clients to sign a contract on something new that they are going to do every week.

something else is that diets don't work. if it's something that you can't do for a lifetime, it's not worth wasting your money since when you go off the diet, all the weight comes back.

:nono:

Or do you feel you aren't taken as seriously because of how you look,or because you need a cigarette break? I hope this hasn't happened,since its discriminatory and wrong,but we all know that doesn't mean much! :(

I'm not a nurse yet, so I don't have first hand experience here, but isn't it common for nurses to not even get lunch breaks, let alone cigarette breaks? That seems pretty unhealthy to me! :uhoh21:

But in regards to the original question, I would say that you're only a bad example if you can't live up to what you are telling the patient to do- such as a smoker who can't quit advising someone who is trying to, or a nurse whose weight is out of control due to her own personal neglect (I know there are other factors, please don't read into what I'm saying) advising someone that they need to lose weight.

Unfortunately, in the world we live in right now you will find people who do make snap judgments based on appearance, and a common one is that overweight=unhealthy. Just don't let it stop you. Like an earlier poster said, work on your own emotional health so that you can deal with such attitudes and not let it drag you down. :wink2:

Specializes in Public Health, DEI.
So it is okay to discriminate against a group for setting a bad example because they have a low BMI, but not fair to do it to a group that has a high one?

It isn't discrimination to fire someone that can't perform key elements of a job. For this reason, people who are overweight have never been high fashion models (plus size models notwithstanding). Manufacturers have every right to dictate the bodies on which they choose to display their clothes to what they consider the best advantage. This is why you've never heard of any designers being sued for discrimination for not using any other body type than that which they've chosen as their human mannequin.

Nursing is a whole different story. We either have the skills and expertise needed or we don't. We're not here to display someone's clothes, we're here to provide care. Weight, high or low, is not a qualifying factor, except as it pertains to our ability to provide key functions of care.

I live in California which, to me is the pinnacle of hyperantidiscrimination. I would never even think of acting like I noticed the Snickers bar in the hand of the dietician, physician or nurse. I notice, yes, I am human but that is it. Some people don't mind being overweight & others do. After working with patients for 18 years I realize the healthcare team does not always practice what it preaches. I consider it none of my business if a part of the healthcare team has practices which I personally feel are undesirable or seen by mainstream society as unhealthy. Do they do their jobs? This is what does matter to me, personally.

Specializes in Pain Management.
It isn't discrimination to fire someone that can't perform key elements of a job. For this reason, people who are overweight have never been high fashion models (plus size models notwithstanding). Manufacturers have every right to dictate the bodies on which they choose to display their clothes to what they consider the best advantage. This is why you've never heard of any designers being sued for discrimination for not using any other body type than that which they've chosen as their human mannequin.

Agreed. We might argue about what standards the fashion industry is trying to convey, but it is the designer's product and they can market them as they like.

Nursing is a whole different story. We either have the skills and expertise needed or we don't. We're not here to display someone's clothes, we're here to provide care. Weight, high or low, is not a qualifying factor, except as it pertains to our ability to provide key functions of care.

Here lies the source of the conflict. Is being "fit" and a non-smoker an important attribute for nursing, or is it irrelevant?

If we subscribe to the idea that nurses are human and have the right to their vices (smoking, eating, not exercising), then by default we would have to agree that patients are human too (and have the right to their vices too). This would mean that judging the patient's behavior as being counterproductive to their health be inappropriate, since after all, it is their right to have their vices.

Another implication would be if the patient sees an overweight nurse and feels this disqualifies them to provide adequate care, then it would be perfectly acceptable for the patient to request a new nurse. We might think it is wrong, but then who are we to judge, since they are entitled to their opinion?

I think I just slipped into a "medical autonomy" argument without realizing it. I was trying to parallel the "our lifestyle as nurses is irrelevant" with the "my lifestyle as a patient is irrelevant", but I fumbled it and failed miserably. Many apologies.

Great avatar BTW.

Specializes in ICU, PACU.

I have been approached by patients, family members and even asked by my own family members in why there are so may unhealthy and overweight healthcare workers.

I can see their point, but I respond by telling them what is important if they have a safe, competent and well educated nurse.

I am not overweight, I don't smoke and I rarely drink and this doesn't make me a better nurse than one who does, perhaps healthier, but not better.

Specializes in LTC,Hospice/palliative care,acute care.

If we subscribe to the idea that nurses are human and have the right to their vices (smoking, eating, not exercising), then by default we would have to agree that patients are human too (and have the right to their vices too). This would mean that judging the patient's behavior as being counterproductive to their health be inappropriate, since after all, it is their right to have their vices.

Another implication would be if the patient sees an overweight nurse and feels this disqualifies them to provide adequate care, then it would be perfectly acceptable for the patient to request a new nurse. We might think it is wrong, but then who are we to judge, since they are entitled to their opinion? QUOTE There is one glaring difference-we are talking about patients in hospital probably BECAUSE because of their smoking or obesity while we are dragging our somewhat fat,smoking butts up and down the hall.(if we are addressing these issues with these pts. then they are likely having health problems as a direct result of them -how many times have you had a patient in for an appendectomy and lectured them about their weight or smoking?) These people are probably having trouble holding their jobs or are on disability....Pts have the right to their vices and I don't think we are "judging" them when we say to a COPD'er that seem to be popping up more and more frequently--"You know-if you quit smoking now ...etc" By the time you get to the mid to late stages of these chronic diseases caused by smoking,obesity,alcoholism you well know you have done it to yourself. No surprises for these pts. Not much sense in beating the dead horse at that stage in IMHO.These pts. used to really bother me " Turn off my Oxxy, honey while I smoke" then I realized the pt likely is half dead-why stop the only pleasure they have?

Agreed. We might argue about what standards the fashion industry is trying to convey, but it is the designer's product and they can market them as they like.

Here lies the source of the conflict. Is being "fit" and a non-smoker an important attribute for nursing, or is it irrelevant?

If we subscribe to the idea that nurses are human and have the right to their vices (smoking, eating, not exercising), then by default we would have to agree that patients are human too (and have the right to their vices too). This would mean that judging the patient's behavior as being counterproductive to their health be inappropriate, since after all, it is their right to have their vices.

Another implication would be if the patient sees an overweight nurse and feels this disqualifies them to provide adequate care, then it would be perfectly acceptable for the patient to request a new nurse. We might think it is wrong, but then who are we to judge, since they are entitled to their opinion?

I think I just slipped into a "medical autonomy" argument without realizing it. I was trying to parallel the "our lifestyle as nurses is irrelevant" with the "my lifestyle as a patient is irrelevant", but I fumbled it and failed miserably. Many apologies.

Great avatar BTW.

Years ago when I graduated with my BSN, my best friend's husband congratulated me and said, "Now don't go and gain a bunch of weight like the rest of the RN's!" I'm now a nurse practitioner and I can tell you that patients EXPECT US TO SET AN EXAMPLE!

There is a NP in town who runs a CHF clinic and she's morbidly obese (I have no idea if she smokes or not). I have had more than a few of her patients comment on the fact that they can't take her seriously when she tells them to lose weight, precisely because she is so overweight! Frankly, I would feel like a hypocrite if I counseled someone on losing weight or quitting smoking when I had the same vice myself! YOU HAVE TO PRACTICE WHAT YOU PREACH!

Specializes in Pain Management.

There is one glaring difference-we are talking about patients in hospital probably BECAUSE because of their smoking or obesity while we are dragging our somewhat fat,smoking butts up and down the hall.(if we are addressing these issues with these pts. then they are likely having health problems as a direct result of them -how many times have you had a patient in for an appendectomy and lectured them about their weight or smoking?) These people are probably having trouble holding their jobs or are on disability....Pts have the right to their vices and I don't think we are "judging" them when we say to a COPD'er that seem to be popping up more and more frequently--"You know-if you quit smoking now ...etc" By the time you get to the mid to late stages of these chronic diseases caused by smoking,obesity,alcoholism you well know you have done it to yourself. No surprises for these pts. Not much sense in beating the dead horse at that stage in IMHO.These pts. used to really bother me " Turn off my Oxxy, honey while I smoke" then I realized the pt likely is half dead-why stop the only pleasure they have?

I readily admit there is a difference between the unhealthy vices that lead patients to the hospital and a nurse that seems healthy but has the same vices.

Or is there?

Maybe the main difference is the that the patient is in the acute or chronic stage of an illness (which is why they are at the hospital), and the nurse is just in a prediagnostic or diagnostic stage of an illness [caused by the same vice].

Kinda of a trip when you step back and think about it.

I agree. It may not be right and it may not be fair, but it happens all the time. I have a friend who is a PA and she is morbidly obese. She lost out on a big job with an orthopedic surgeon precisely because she is overweight. Of course, he didn't tell her that, but she found out from another PA who's employeed there. Most physicians are into being fit and they just aren't going to hire employees who don't fit the "health" mold.

yes too, i am overweight, like several other posters have mentioned. but, my dear, i was thin and much healthier until i developed ra and three level disc disease, whereupon exercise became impossible, due to pain. i am looking at having wls next year, to save my life. just because i am heavy, doesn't mean i'm happy with that either. but likely for an entirely different set of reasons. so if you're young and 21 or 23 years old, exercise now whilst you still can.

two years ago, i was overweight. my legs and feet hurt after work. then i hurt my back. i was only picking up an i.v. pump off the floor. the doc told me not to stay in bed but walk, walk, walk. so i did. and with a little stress, extra shifts, little to eat and sleep, i lost 45 pounds. i have more energy and i can actually sleep eight hours straight. i also got a dog! sometimes, when i have time, i lift those 5lb weights to make my arms stronger. i still eat chocolate and chips. every now and then, i'll go out and get flat on my face drunk. i like having fun. to me, fun is important. but i got a job to do. when i hurt my back, my life changed drastically and i experienced pain and agony like i never felt before. i couldn't work and that was horrible too. i have two part time jobs without benefits. that was a very humbling experience for me and i can't take life for granted anymore. at work, i see some of my coworkers who struggle because of bad knees or sore backs from workplace injuries. i know my back injury was because my stomach muscles were too weak to support my back muscles. (i learned that from the physiotherapist and chiropractor.) i love working and i want to continue. i was a real pain to my family at home. i was really drugged at the beginning too. so yeah, i never want that to happen again. or at least not for a long time. so as a result of the small "lifestyle" change i made, i lost a lot of weight. so, i can do a lot of the extra lifting and stooping etc for my fellow nurse. i can race for the call-bells if they are busy with their paperwork. everyone's happy! :wink2:

i have lived in california---hyperantidiscrimination may be a mouthful but i didn't notice it more or less there than in other places i have lived

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