Obese Nurses

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I am wondering if there is a weight requirement for nurses in Illinois. Is an obese nurse hirable?

Specializes in EMS, ED, Trauma, CEN, CPEN, TCRN.
Sorry guys. I just asked bec I'm a new nurse and my BMI is 40. I know that there is an anti-discrimination act but I also heard that hospitals dont hire nurses like me. Ty God bless.

Obesity is not a protected class, but there have been lawsuits on the topic. According to the feds, not hiring an obese person does not violate discrimination laws.

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*stalks SleeepyRN and the dude with the six pack*

Sleeepy!!! :roflmao:

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[ATTACH]21890[/ATTACH]

Speaking of which, has anyone seen Mav lately? :woot:

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Everyone needs a hobby

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Eating is a hobby...

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Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.

In all seriousness, some hospital systems will not hire employees whose BMIs are greater than a predetermined cutoff point. For instance:

Citizens Medical Center, a hospital in in the Texas town of Victoria in the lower Eastern part of the state, has a hiring policy in place that mandates that they will not hire any employee categorized as obese or having a BMI of over 35.

http://www.examiner.com/article/hospital-will-not-hire-employees-based-on-bmi

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*stalks SleeepyRN and the dude with the six pack*

Sleeepy!!! :roflmao:

Did I mention the six pack is indeed a six pack of beer?

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Specializes in EMS, ED, Trauma, CEN, CPEN, TCRN.
In all seriousness, some hospital systems will not hire employees whose BMIs are greater than a predetermined cutoff point. For instance:

Hospital will not hire employees based on BMI | Examiner.com

Interesting! I went to the BMI calculator to figure out how much I'd have to weigh to hit 35. On my short frame, I would have to weigh more than 180 to hit 35.

It was also interesting to read that it's illegal to do what the article described in Michigan, as well as several cities (DC, San Fran, etc.).

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Did I mention the six pack is indeed a six pack of beer?

*stalks harder*

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This is garbage. The only reason weight requirement is implemented for safety reasons is life flight nursing (as per AlphsM post). Ever see Terry Foster from untold stories of the ER? (side note he really is an (ER nurse).

I wanted to do life flight, but I have a double whammy. Even if I were to lose 20 lbs, I'm 6-4 and can't fit in most coptors :p

PS: if we went by military standards, there would be a huge nursing shortage. A woman who is 5-7 and over 160 is considered overweight by military standards, which is usually the basis of height/weight/BMI charts.

In my view, this is a better way to calculate it (SBMI)

Calculate your BMI, correctly rated according to age and sex

I like that calculator! It says I'm fine. :)

But that shiny hair cannot contain parabens.

:sneaky: Ha ha ha ha . . .:roflmao:

I honestly don't think there are weight restrictions where I work. I'll have to check.

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Did I mention the six pack is indeed a six pack of beer?

Sweet...I'm in!

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*stalks SleeepyRN and the dude with the six pack*

Sleeepy!!! :roflmao:

Sleeepy was up all night stalking on Allnurses. Here I am still awake having to go to work in a few hours. Sleeepy is right! Yawn. Just can't sleep.

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