Staying Healthy

Editorial Team / Admin · Oct 4, 2005

I am a nursing student with one very important question....does anyone have any advice on how to stay healthy in nursing?? i think half of our nursing class is sick right now, among other things.. i injured my back a year ago and am having a little trouble standing all day....does anyone have any advice??

Hello, RNjb, :nurse:

Here is the Healthy Living thread that is active in the Break Room. You may view this thread, but, until you are Premium, cannot post. You will get great info here:

https://allnurses.com/forums/showthread.php?t=116012

I suggest you contact your healthcare provider regarding your back. I do hope you do this and hope you feel better soon.

Daytonite, BSN, RN · Oct 4, 2005

This happened in my class years ago too. You have to keep up your immune system to minimize the chance of getting full blown symptoms of viruses you are going to get exposed to. Eat fresh fruit and veggies and take on some extra Vit. C. As I look back, I was sick a lot with all the various colds and flu going around. I think I've had just about every one out there. For the past 10 years or so I've hardly had a cold or flu. My mother was told by the instructors of her LVN program to expect to be getting sick frequently in their first years of nursing because of the viruses they would be exposed to. I've recently seen a number of nurses wearing face masks. However, unless the technology in making them has changed, they are only good for so many minutes or hours and once they get damp they are like sponges picking up bacteria left and right. Some good rules of thumb to follow are not to get your face too close to patient's faces or ET/Trach tubes and wash your hands between patient contacts, before leaving a patient room, AND especially just before leaving the hospital. We were advised in my nursing program to keep our uniforms separate from all our other clothes and that includes the shoes. This is also another good reason for not wearing any jewelry while on duty. Just another opinion here. . .hospitals tell their employees not to come to work if they are ill, but they also have attendance policies that make it nearly impossible to do that. Consequently, a lot of the nursing staff come in to work in varying stages of cold or flu, so you have to be careful around your co-workers and fellow students as well.