Hospital Won't Hire Obese Workers

wooh, BSN, RN · Apr 12, 2012

I don't know if you guys realize this but a BMI of 35 is severely obese. Yes, I know BMI does not take into account muscle; but come one, how many nurses are ripped like a professional athlete?

Even as a fat nurse, I could understand the obesity thing. What bothers me is a hospital basing their hiring on a system as flawed as BMI. There are TWO nurses on just my unit that are "obese" according to BMI. One is a fitness model. ALL muscle. The other one works out 6 days a week and has a body fat percentage in the teens. Both "obese." Right now the number is 35. How soon before it drops down lower?

So, my education, intelligence, training, years of experience count for nothing against my waist measurement. Some really screwed up priorities here....

Meh, just another way we're turning into having as little respect as flight attendants. Soon we'll be expected to dress like Hooters waitresses in the name of customer service.

LinaE · Apr 12, 2012

Very smart girl.

chevyv, BSN, RN · Apr 12, 2012

A BMI of 35 is 100 pounds over your ideal weight for your height. The hospital is not talking about vanity pounds here.

My research is saying a BMI over 40 is considered 100# over ideal wieght, but I"m sure it's different on the bariatric sites.

chevyv, BSN, RN · Apr 12, 2012

But, when you go into a hospital today, you're usually pretty darn ill. If you care that much about the weight of the nurse caring for you, then you probably aren't that ill. I'd be much more concerned with a nurse catching me before I crash then if he/she is thin or heavy.

To be denied employment based on weight just sucks. It's one more battle I guess but I truly hope the people making these policies never ever get put on meds that may just cause them to gain weight and perhaps put their own jobs on the line. Some of us tend to think about ourselves and lose sight of others that may be going through some serious health issues and are taking medications that cause weight gain but allow the pt to live. Wonder if there's a clause in the policy for that. Then again, they'd be too sick to work and couldn't keep up the pace anyway. Whatever would the pt think?

ErinS, BSN, RN · Apr 12, 2012

Well, my thought is that they are not hiring obese nurses and they are not hiring nurses who smoke. Where do we the draw the line on high risk behavior? Should we still hire nurses who drink alcohol, or drive motorcycles? And, a previous poster commented that a patient can not trust a nurse who is obese to give nutrition and diet information. As an obese person, I just LOVE it when someone who has never had to work at maintaining their weight tries to talk to me about weight loss and healthy eating. I KNOW what it is like to work out 5 hours a week and track everything I eat, and still struggle to see weight loss. I understand the struggle for these patients, both in the difficulty in losing weight and the difficulty in being heavy. The number of times I hear a nurse say 'Well maybe if they would just lost weight...'. If it was that easy, we would all be thin.

Anyways, all of that being said, I understand the reasoning behind this rule. This is one of my big motivators for working my ass off (literally!). Although I understand the reasoning, I think they will come to regret this rule. It is difficult to find quality nurses. Give me 1 fat nurse with a great work ethic over 5 skinny lazy nurses any day!

tothepointeLVN, LVN · Apr 12, 2012

I read that they are not going to hire obese people, but the morbidly obese people are considered disabled, which are a protected group that can not be discriminated against. I dont really see how it will be worth it to deny someone employment who is 240 lbs but be forced to hire someone who is 440 lbs. I guess they can say they will be disqualified for other issues such as inability to perform the duties, but who knows.

I wonder. I have a disability (on paper most of the time it doesn't limit me) that is supposed to prevent me from discrimination however in the treatment of aforementioned "disability" I have taken medications that has caused extreme weight gain (at one point 60lb in 60days) So I wonder if they can discriminate against me based on my weight alone.

I'm more the 35 BMI but this has never prevented me from doing my job. Losing the weight has been difficult but I was always fit so I've adapted (reluctantly)

Kuniklo · Apr 12, 2012

This is absolutely ludicrous. What about nurses who are obese because of medication or medical conditions? Are you supposed to let your employer see your records to prove that? I'm not obese but one of my BEST nursing instructor was. She was an amazing teacher, and even more amazing nurse, we all loved her, but definitely obese due to medical reasons. This ****** me off on her behalf.

tothepointeLVN, LVN · Apr 12, 2012

As an obese person, I just LOVE it when someone who has never had to work at maintaining their weight tries to talk to me about weight loss and healthy eating. I KNOW what it is like to work out 5 hours a week and track everything I eat, and still struggle to see weight loss. I understand the struggle for these patients, both in the difficulty in losing weight and the difficulty in being heavy.

When I was doing patient education in a busy public clinic I found my patients related to me more because I was in the same situation and understood how they got there and how hard it was to get out. It's our experiences that make us empathetic.

PetsToPeople · Apr 12, 2012

I don't know if you guys realize this but a BMI of 35 is severely obese. QUOTE]
I don't know if you realize this but a BMI of 35 is not severely obese. I am 5'8 and my weight is 265lbs which makes my BMI 40.9. I wear size 18 pants and XL shirts, does that sound like severely obese to you, to the point that I would be incapable of performing my duties of employment? I work out regularly but looooove my food...I can jog, kick butt on the elliptical, I lift weights better than most men at the gym (and still look sexy doing it , can do push ups, box jumps, so far can bench 135lbs and squat the same (getting better!) and I don't drink or smoke. It is completely unfair to just box people in based on a chart of numbers. Besides I don't see them getting away with it, what is the obese population in the US now, like 40-50%? They will run out of applicants before long lol.
Also, the main reason they listed for not wanting to hire overweight people had nothing to do with increasing the cost of healthcare, but with meeting the physical expectations of the 65yrs and older age group, which are the majority of their pts. When I think of that age group I think of them having less of an issue with overweight people and more of an issue with people of a different race, different religious or political affiliation, or have tattoos and/or piercings. And of course to back up those thoughts he is already being sued over sending out a racist email about middle easterns.
If this junk keeps up and I can't find a job because of my weight or my credit check and the government decides to pass a bill that will fine it's citizens for not carrying public insurance, you will find me and my family out in the woods, living in a self built hobbit house raising goats and living a more peaceful life for it :)

JDZ344 · Apr 12, 2012

In general, I don't care if my nurse or doctor is fat.... if they get me better, then I'm happy. If a bigger nurse can do the basic requirements of a job, then why not hire him or her?

PetsToPeople · Apr 12, 2012

And to all those posters who mentioned that an obese nurse will not be taken seriously when giving advice on diet/nutrition, to this I agree, but lets not overlook that nurses educate pt's on MANY other issues than only nutrition. So a male nurse cannot be taken seriously when giving advice on certain things, or a nurse who is too young or maybe too old or is of a different race? I can give you better nutritional and cooking advice than most personal trainers or nurses...but knowing something and doing something are two different things. When I give someone nutritional advice I tell them that I still stuggle with finding my own way, what works best for me, and they need to do the same, don't do what others do, take the advice/knowledge they give you and find what works for you.

Anna Flaxis, BSN, RN · Apr 12, 2012

Just want to point out that the terms "overweight" and "obese" appear to be getting used interchangeably, yet they are two distinct categories on the BMI scale.

Carry on.