JustGettingStarted

I did not mean to stir up anything. I was unaware that this topic had been beaten to death on this board; seeing as I just found it. I will consider the thread closed and I will print up what has been posted so far. Thanks to all of you who gave your opinions on the topic. It is very much appreciated.

Thank you all so very much for taking the time to respond to my topic. I could not agree more with some of the comments posted. I myself live a very healthy lifestyle and I hope to continue even with the stress of nursing. I also know that it is not fair to judge someone's worth, abilities and/or knowledge based on their not being the "ideal". My thoughts are that if I am sick, and you can make me better, you could be green with red pocka dots :). Time to write my nursing care plan for tomorrow. I have my first actual day on the floor. Wish me luck and please continue to add your thoughts to this thread. Many thanks to you as well Marie. I will check out that thread another time for sure.

lsyorke, My post was not meant as a knock on nurses and I hope that you did not take offense. The reason I posted the question is because it seemed unrealistic to expect nurses to be the perfect role models of health they try and teach us to be in nursing school. I wanted to know if y'all felt is was fair or even feasible to be such a role model. In addition, do you think it is important for your patients. Thanks again.

Let me preface this thread by stating that I am a nursing student working on a BSN. One of my class assignments is to post to a nursing forum on a topic we have discussed in our Foundations class. I appreciate y'all taking the time to answer and discuss with me your thoughts on the following: I have only been in the hospital for about 6 weeks for my Middle family clinical rotation. I have spent these beginning weeks doing observations in various departments, including the OR, Endoscopy lab, Cath lab and others. I have come in contact with a lot of nurses whom I would not say are role models of good health. One of the things we have discussed in class is that the best way to teach your patients about good health is to be a good role model. In my opinion that would mean maintaining a healthy weight, eating well, exercising and most definitely NOT smoking. I realize that being a nurse can be very stressful and that sometimes our outlets aren't always the most appropriate. I guess my question is two fold. First, do you believe that we as nurses (or nurses to be :)) should be role models for our patients? Second, what can be done to promote better health in our own profession? Once again, thank you for your time and assistance.