soo, is our gait and weight going to be an issue regardless?

malenurse354 · Dec 25, 2012

I don’t think weight or gait could be an issue when practicing nursing! It may still be dependent on how you take care of your health in general, proper body mechanics and etc, though I am actually curious about the occurrence of weight gain and poor gait among nurses! That can be a good subject for research=)!

dodoy, BSN, RN · Dec 26, 2012

That was funny! hahah. sorry.

A picture of a bunch of nurses shuffling was just hilarious. Imagine a flashmob of nurses doing the "Party Rock Anthem"! LOL!

DSkelton711 · Dec 26, 2012

I think it depends on the individual, but I think weight is an issue with many nurses. I have problems with pain, which affects my gait. I feel as if my body is gonna crap out on me due to pain. It prevents me from doing my job more efficiently. Many nurses I work with are in chronic pain mode.

anotherone, BSN, RN · Dec 27, 2012

I feel so tired on my days off sometimes that I do not want to exercise at all let alone the 1-3 hours of cardio I used to do and should do. So I have to eat a lot less than I want to not gain weight.

allnurses Guide · Dec 27, 2012

I really haven't noticed that most longtime nurses walk funny. Some crusty old bats end up the skinny, wiry type and some are overweight.

martymoose, BSN, RN · Dec 27, 2012

Well, Im one of THEM. But my gait is because my back is shot and I have sciatica. And yes- gained weight since becoming a nurse. And Yes- I'm sure there is a huge connection that I would love to be researched. Shift work, loss of circadian rhythm, excessive amounts of stress hormone, being female, stress eating, bingeing after work because you never got any sort of break during your 14 hour shift and are famished and stressed.

Oh, and in my case, Im so exhausted- I sleep eat and work. sleep eat work and try to sleep some more. Who wants to exercise when you are so wiped out from your job.

SoldierNurse22, BSN, RN · Dec 27, 2012

I know a few nurses who are overweight, but by and large, (no pun intended) most of us are in good shape.

Nothing like biannual fitness tests as a condition of one's employment to motivate a person to exercise.

martymoose, BSN, RN · Dec 27, 2012

I know a few nurses who are overweight, but by and large, (no pun intended) most of us are in good shape.
Nothing like biannual fitness tests as a condition of one's employment to motivate a person to exercise.

question- does your employer make you rotate all 3 shifts during the week? And do you get regular meal breaks at your job.

My point- of course, i have to blame something lol, is , that I wasn't overweight in my previous job, which was almost stress free, regular m-f one shift, two breaks and a full lunch break daily in an 8 hour shift, and no liabilities to worry about. No staying 2 hours past a 12 hour shift, etc.I was fit back then, exercised regularly, and also rode hunter horses( jumping) back then. Oh what I wouldnt give to have that now :-(.

ps. oh , and no, my back probs didnt come from riding- It came from hauling fat a** people ( oh, Im sorry- people of size)who are 500 lbs in their beds. Ever try to push a wheelchair with a 500 lb person in it by yourself? Oh, and elderly who think you can hold them up and fall on you. We've had to incidences of staff being pinned on the floor by them falling on them.( by the way, those staff were skinny- or of less size)We werent designed to do that stuff.

Ruby Vee, BSN · Dec 27, 2012

Are nurses really destined to be overweight and walk with a poor gait sometime in time? I mean, if it's not the weight of a nurse, it's their gait. Can we be nurses for years, and still walk as great as we started and have a great metabolism as we started well if that was your case. Every nurse I see walks funny, or is alittle chubby, as they always say, theyve gained so much weight since nursing.
I mean, im just curious. my weight is not an issue, but my gait, heavens my Gait, could be in addition to working nights, but my legs arent connected to my body any more. When day shift walks in, here comes the first 8 with their unique gait, shuffling, and all sorts of varities. When i see them, i twtch because this job is already stressful, let alone be morphed from it. -___-

I've noticed that nurses who have been nurses for years generally don't have the same slender bodies and great metabolism they started out with. For instance, I've been a nurse since the mid 70s, and I've gained some weight. My gait has deteriorated . . . that's probably the arthritis in my knees and my spinal stenosis. I don't think I shuffle, but I do limp. Of course, I'm thirty-some years older than I was when I started nursing.

In fact, strangely, I've noticed that most of the nurses who have been working as nurses for thirty years or so are now thirty years or so older than they were when they started.

justjoan52 · Jan 2, 2013

I don’t think weight or gait could be an issue when practicing nursing! It may still be dependent on how you take care of your health in general proper body mechanics and etc, though I am actually curious about the occurrence of weight gain and poor gait among nurses! That can be a good subject for research=)![/quote']
I don't think it has anything to do with nursing...I see most women gaining weight after 40..I also gained weight, but the gait problem I don't think is relayed to nursing...you probably need to do yoga.

MBrickle · Jan 2, 2013

I work nights in pedi home care. Even doing this job I blew out my back and took 6 months off in y first year of nursing! Home care isn't set up for the nurse, its set up for the patient which makes it difficult to use proper body mechanics. Add a 100+ pound child who is totally immobile in the mix with a 150+ pound wheelchair and you are asking for trouble!

I have managed to actually lose about 40lbs working nights. In my opinion it's all about having a schedule. I make she to get at least 8 hours sleep, I go to the gym most days and if I can't make it I go for a long walk, I do stretching exercises while watching tv and I plan out my snacks and meals. If you do it that way it's easy to grab something on the run while you chart, etc.

Due to my back issues I'm waving the white flag early and will likely get my NP to get out of bedside nursing because I refuse to go through another year of agonizing chronic pain and sciatica again, especially because I'm only 29...30 years in a hospital would all but kill me!