Nurses with pedometers - How far do you walk?

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How many steps do you walk in a busy shift and a slow shift? I just put a pedometer app in my phone. I was unsure about its accuracy, so I counted steps with it in my pocket and it's pretty good! I've had two slower shifts at 8300 steps and a moderately busy one at 9600.

I'm afraid to use it now that I'm off the floors/clinic.

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Specializes in LTC and Pediatrics.

I usually get in at least 3 miles on my 8 hour shift in a LTC setting.

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I worked a 16 hour baylor where I walked 13 miles. So my Baylor weekend was essentially a marathon with some med pass, dressing changes and foley caths in between...............

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Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.
Yep, miles we walk. The kicker is.. this is not considered "exercise" by our bodies. It is the average metabolic expenditure we have achieved.
Yep...all of these steps are part of our total daily energy expenditure (TDEE). It is a very interesting concept. Since our bodies are acclimated to the thousands of daily steps we take during each shift, it is merely part of our regular metabolic rate.
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Specializes in ER, Med-surg.

At my last hospital, where we did a lot of our own transports, I often got 15000 steps a shift. At my new ER with better layout and techs, I'm usually ~8-10K.

Weirdly, I get a lot even in triage- I guess all that standing up, walking out, walking them back really does add up.

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Specializes in Neuro ICU, SICU.

As an ICU nurse with 2 pts I typically take 10-15,000 steps. I am occasionally the float/ resource nurse on our 34 bed unit. I go on a lot of MRI and CT trips when resourcing and I took almost 30,000 steps the last time I was in this role.

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I used my husbands Nabu band tuesday (like a of brand name of fitbit lol) and it showed 14,297 steps on our tele unit (I had 6 patients with three of them discharged and then got three more immediately- was a rough day! LOL

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Specializes in NICU, ICU, PICU, Academia.

Quick question for those of you that use them- how is the fitbit at tracking sleep? I have a research study I want to conduct, and actigraphy is way too expensive for my budget. If I could recruit subjects who owned fitbits already- I would be golden.

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Specializes in Emergency/Cath Lab.

18,000 steps on a bad day. 28,000 on a good one.

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Specializes in Medical-Surgial, Cardiac, Pediatrics.

For 13 hours, a general average day is 12,000. A really bad day I had nearly 18,000..

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Specializes in Emergency Nursing.

My average at work is around 10,000 steps. The busiest day I've recorded I walked 6.5 miles in one shift. The really sad part is I can tell what days I don't work by looking at the app on my phone. Haha I look at it and I'm like...Oh! That's when I went from the couch to the fridge 😂😂😂.

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Specializes in OR, Nursing Professional Development.
Quick question for those of you that use them- how is the fitbit at tracking sleep? I have a research study I want to conduct, and actigraphy is way too expensive for my budget. If I could recruit subjects who owned fitbits already- I would be golden.

The Fitbit one I use seems pretty reliable. I do have to manually start the timer or try to remember what time I went to bed the next day and manually enter it. I believe there are some other Fitbit models that do automatic tracking. I do know that I wake up periodically during the night, and it does pick that up. It also picks up restlessness, but as I sleep alone there is no one to confirm the accuracy of that.

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