Nurses, we need to become healthier

crossfitnurse · May 25, 2014

Stress, family life, addiction? You never know the other persons issues until you've walked in their shoes.

Don't get me wrong - I'm like you. I workout 5-6 times a week and in good health. But all we can do is be a good example and a positive motivator for those who are wanting some help or direction.

Why don't you start a group at your work or a little health "challenge?"

I used to think the same way until I grew up and realized that everyone has their own thing going on in their lives. Might be easy for us, for others - it's not.

Editorial Team / Admin · May 25, 2014

Nurses are as human as any other professional, and each and every one of us has our flaws. Instead of letting your coworkers' "bad habits" bother you, why not mind your own business as long as it isn't affecting patient care? Also, physical appearance isn't always an indication of health status. As for education, some patients may feel that education coming from someone who has dealt with or is dealing with the same issue as them as preferable to education from someone who hasn't been there or done that.

Is this a common issue nation wide?

Every profession, every state, probably even every city and town. It's just part of being human and not being perfect.

MrsICURN14 · May 25, 2014

Nurses are as human as any other professional, and each and every one of us has our flaws. Instead of letting your coworkers' "bad habits" bother you, why not mind your own business as long as it isn't affecting patient care? Also, physical appearance isn't always an indication of health status. As for education, some patients may feel that education coming from someone who has dealt with or is dealing with the same issue as them as preferable to education from someone who hasn't been there or done that.
Every profession, every state, probably even every city and town. It's just part of being human and not being perfect.

While I totally understand this perspective, I also see the other side.

I think the same can be said for physicians who don't stay fit or at a healthy weight. Why would I listen to my dr tell me to eat healthy and exercise and lose weight when I'm looking at him and thinking hmmm take a page from your own book.

Eating healthy and exercising takes effort and time, but it's still a choice. Anyone can make time to make their health a priority, some just choose not to make that a priority. I think the same thing when I see nurses sitting around eating junk food. I think "they should know better!" Sure I eat pizza or ice cream every now and then, but those aren't staples for me and I choose to take the time out of my schedule to eat healthy because I know what eating poorly does to my body short and long term.

I get sick of people saying "well you don't know what's going on in their life." As an excuse for why they choose not to be healthy. We all have choices. I have a LOT going on in my life right now, but to me letting my diet and exercise go by the wayside is not an option.

And yes, I have heard patients make comments about overweight drs and nurses before, so some patients do think about that. We are supposed to be setting good examples for our patients.

I'm not saying you have to be a size 2 to be healthy, on the contrary. I'm not stick skinny, but I consider myself healthy. But on the other hand, I don't think anyone can look at a severely obese person and tell me they're healthy. That's laughable. We all know what carrying around all that extra weight does to the body.

So I do see both sides of the argument.

nurseling · May 28, 2014

For a while, I wondered the same thing...I'm a relatively new nurse and only recently got my RN license. The first couple of months was a HUGE adjustment period in terms of lifestyle. There was sooo much new information being thrown at me and the pace of the work really took getting used to. Needless to say I was stressed and craving sugar! But I quickly grabbed a hold of that, because I know nurses have a tendency to gain weight and I wasn't going down that road. I decided that what i needed was to manage stress better...That's really the key. Stress makes nurses overeat. It makes them sleep more and not feel like exercising.

Something I'm beginning to realize is that part of that stress is not even the job in and of itself. It's our state of mind. Any job can be stressful. What matters is how you choose to look at it. When I started to change my frame of mind about the work I was doing, feeding less into the complaining, I found my outlook improving and stress levels decreasing. As the stress started lifting mentally, I started feeling more motivated to go to the gym and exercise. It has made a world of a difference for me. Not only am I more relaxed at work and in my free time, I have more energy, I look and feel great.

Also, I've taken up meditation and self-hypnosis which has really changed my outlook powerfully. I share this with other nurses, but a lot of them are stuck in their ways of venting, complaining and emotional overeating. I'm committed to taking a different path, but it's all good. To each their own. I'm just focused on taking care of ME, because only then am i really of value to caring for others...