how many calories do you think nursing burns up?

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Specializes in Critical Care.

After a long and very physically demanding 12hrs yesterday, I finally sank into my couch and thought, "Damn! My muscles hurt!". My hallway is long, my patients are often totals ( and to my luck, never tiny!), etc. I move and grove all day long!!

When I don't work out on my days off, shifts like these help me justify it.

Does your work feel like a workout?

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Specializes in Trauma Surgical ICU.

Yep, work is my workout. I refuse to workout in a normal fashion.

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Specializes in Med/Surg,Cardiac.

I usually consider my work a workout. Although I have heard that activities you do regularly don't count since your body gets used to them.

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How many calories does nursing burn?

Not as many as I can eat. :confused:

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How many calories does nursing burn?

Not as many as I can eat. :confused:

Ain't it the truth.

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Specializes in Med/Surg, Tele, Dialysis, Hospice.
Ain't it the truth.

I know, and it doesn't make sense, does it? I work twelve hour nights and I bet I walk miles every shift, not to mention the lifting, stretching, bending, and going without food when I'm hungry because I can't take a break right then and then going home and sleeping when I would normally be eating. It seems like the weight should be falling off if I eat like I did before I started this job, yet it doesn't happen. It's so frustrating! I know a lot of pretty heavy nurses who are bigger than me too, and we all run our legs off and work our butts off all shift, so what gives?

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Specializes in Critical Care; Cardiac; Professional Development.

Not enough to prevent the 20 lbs I have gained since starting. :blink:

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Specializes in Emergency/Cath Lab.

I would regularly walk 8-10 miles a night working.

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Specializes in Medical Oncology, Alzheimer/dementia.
I know, and it doesn't make sense, does it? I work twelve hour nights and I bet I walk miles every shift, not to mention the lifting, stretching, bending, and going without food when I'm hungry because I can't take a break right then and then going home and sleeping when I would normally be eating. It seems like the weight should be falling off if I eat like I did before I started this job, yet it doesn't happen. It's so frustrating! I know a lot of pretty heavy nurses who are bigger than me too, and we all run our legs off and work our butts off all shift, so what gives?

I know some pretty heavy, out of shape nurses so I wonder if the running all day/night burns enough calories?

I'm moving from the minute I hit the floor 4 nights a week, but I still need to go to zumba to keep the weight off. Must be the metabolism...

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Specializes in Med/Surg, Tele, Dialysis, Hospice.

I find it interesting that at the hospitals where I have worked, the day shift nurses as a rule, have a little more time to sit because they have more staff, their patients sometimes go off the floor for extended periods of time for surgery or tests, and they also get regular, scheduled breaks where they go to the cafeteria and eat lunch. (don't shoot me, day nurses, just my personal observations!) The night nurses, OTOH, don't have as much staff, can end up running all night between new admissions and patients who do anything BUT sleep at night, and often times don't get regular breaks or just eat light snacks if they do because the cafeteria often isn't open in the middle of the night. However, there seem to be more heavy, out of shape nurses on nights. I wonder how much of it has to do with sleep cycles and deprivation. They have proven that not getting enough sleep can cause a person to gain or hold on to extra weight. I was also reading just a few days ago about a recent study in which it was determined that the body needs a roughly 12 hour fast in each 24 period or one's glucose levels, insulin resistance, etc. get all messed up, resulting in weight gain or at least difficulty in losing the weight that we already have, and when we work nights we end up eating in the middle of the night instead of fasting like people who sleep at night do.

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Specializes in LTC and School Health.

I burn alot of calories during work. sometimes I find myself sweating. However, I put the calories back on with my glass of wine after work.

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Specializes in orthopedic/trauma, Informatics, diabetes.

I have lost 10 pounds that I gained in Nursing school since starting work. I hope it keeps up!

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