Nurses with pedometers - How far do you walk?

Editorial Team / Admin · Aug 26, 2015

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.

Nurse Malone · Aug 26, 2015

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.

Unfortunately I'm just a full-time student, but believed in using my pedometer (Samsung) on my phone. I realized one day while at an appointment with my husband that his fitbit logged WAY MORE steps than my phone did, which caused me to get on the "fitbit wagon" as well. Now with just walking across my campus, with stairs included I can get in 10,000+ three times a week!

Nurse Malone · Aug 26, 2015

Yes, fitbits are great, I just cant seem to remember to start recording my sleep every night, ugh!

bebbjo · Aug 26, 2015

Depends on the day but on average between 12,00 and 21,000 steps (6-11 miles). Usually my fitbit reads about 14,000 on a 12 hour shift.

meanmaryjean, DNP, RN · Aug 26, 2015

So, to follow up, newer models record sleep automatically? If so, I could purchase 3-4 of them on my budget, and perhaps offer them as incentives (in a drawing) at the end of the study. Hmmm.......

Editorial Team / Admin · Aug 26, 2015

So, to follow up, newer models record sleep automatically? If so, I could purchase 3-4 of them on my budget, and perhaps offer them as incentives (in a drawing) at the end of the study. Hmmm.......

It depends on which Fitbit you get. The Fitbit One does not automatically record. It's one of the cheaper options. The ones that do record sleep automatically are more expensive. The Fitbit One is $100. The Charge, Charge HR, and Surge automatically track sleep and are $130, $140, and $250 respectively. Fitbit comparison

Conqueror+, BSN, RN · Aug 27, 2015

I have a FitBit Charge HR which records sleep automatically. In a 12 hour shift I get 8-12k steps.

momof3lv · Aug 27, 2015

I average about 11,000 steps on a medsurg floor. But our set up is three small pods of 12 pts and each nurse has 6. So all my patients are in one small area, although I do a lot of running around getting supplies and to the med and nourishment room.

Nurse Leigh · Aug 27, 2015

I've been considering getting a FitBit. Is the Charge HR a good option? Do you find that the heart rate tracker is very accurate?

ixchel · Aug 27, 2015

So maybe I should switch to Fitbit. All these numbers are making me feel like an underachiever. Ha! I would like to see if they're accurate, though.

Editorial Team / Moderator · Aug 27, 2015

I found my Fitbit to be less than accurate. Any kind of movement counted - even sex! Lol.

I wear a Nike fuel band and I am a daily runner (on a 272-day streak), so my steps are a bit skewed. But a busy shift before I ran in the evenings would be anywhere from 10-12K steps. At a trauma center where I worked casually, it was higher due to the long layout of the ED and having to run all over to find supplies. Lol.

vintagemother, BSN, CNA, LVN, RN · Aug 27, 2015

I've been considering getting a FitBit. Is the Charge HR a good option? Do you find that the heart rate tracker is very accurate?

Consumer reports said the fit bit heart rate trackers are not as accurate as the chest strap or apple watch.

I'm saving up for the apple watch for this reason!