There's nothing worse than a FAT nurse!

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Ok, I'm sure that title made you want to throw up in your mouth. I don't blame you. I felt the same way when my physician said it to ME.

In January, I decided to take control my life and lose weight. I have lost about 30lbs so far. So, when I went to my doctor last week, he noticed that I was 30lbs lighter. He asked if I was on a diet and I told him yes. I told him I was going to nursing school and want to be a good example if I'm going to lecture on proper diet and exercise.

I guess my statement gave him a green light to be an a-hole.Doctor: that is so refreshing to hear! Nurses are notorious for ignoring their health. Keep up the good work. Remember, THERE'S NOTHING WORSE THAN A FAT NURSE! ::::doctor laughs::::

I was in shock. I could not believe it. I went numb. I did not find what he said funny or supportive. Yeah... I'm actively searching for a NP to be my primary care provider.... I happen to like NP's better. I find them to be less socially retarded.

What's the general consensus on obese nurses? Are obese nurses not taken seriously? Is what my doctor said a common thought?

Specializes in OR, Nursing Professional Development.
The fact that there are 167 posts on a derogatory, judgmental, and discriminatory thread is absolutely unbelievable to me.

That, and the fact that someone had to go searching for this thread since it had been dormant for awhile before someone resuscitated it.

Specializes in Respiratory Education.

Bad health is affecting our Country badly. It's a topic most people don't want to talk about. Although I think we should be respectful to one another, I still think it's important!

I think all the people in the "nurses should be a good example" or "nurses as health educators" camp are kidding themselves if they think nurses have any real ability to get people to change their dietary and exercise habits. Lack of information is not the problem; people know... the problem is compliance...

Specializes in Respiratory Education.
I think all the people in the "nurses should be a good example" or "nurses as health educators" camp are kidding themselves if they think nurses have any real ability to get people to change their dietary and exercise habits. Lack of information is not the problem; people know... the problem is compliance...

I agree. We can't force people to change. But if they see a change in those they like, it may help to encourage at least.

Specializes in LAD.

We all have room for improvement :) None of us are perfect!

Reminds me of a doctor I went to once. I was about 10 pounds overweight at the time and had gained approximately 35 pounds in the past few months prior to this visit. I was eating healthy and exercising every day. I mentioned my concerns about my weight gain to the doctor. He looked at me and said "You are overweight because you eat too much" without doing any kind of tests or knowing anything about my history or eating/ exercising habits. I came home in tears. Turns out I had undiagnosed hypothyroidism. I think some doctors believe that their level of education gives them a right to be a total a-hole!

Specializes in Peds/outpatient FP,derm,allergy/private duty.
I agree. We can't force people to change. But if they see a change in those they like, it may help to encourage at least.

I don't think a person's likability is contingent on their weight at all, and I don't believe most of our patients would take such a narrow-minded view.

Specializes in Forensic Psych.
I don't think a person's likability is contingent on their weight at all and I don't believe most of our patients would take such a narrow-minded view.[/quote']

That isn't at all what the post said.

If they like you, they might be encouraged by healthy changes that YOU make.

Specializes in Peds/outpatient FP,derm,allergy/private duty.
That isn't at all what the post said.

If they like you, they might be encouraged by healthy changes that YOU make.

I don't see how that makes any sense in the context of the average nurse's role in patient education for obesity. Please elaborate on how the concept of "liking" fits into a situation where a nurse has many patients of varying diagnoses and who may never again see the patient she explained the proposed diet and exercise program to.

Specializes in Respiratory Education.
I don't think a person's likability is contingent on their weight at all, and I don't believe most of our patients would take such a narrow-minded view.

Unfortunately, people are actually so narrow-minded that they buy a pill if a girl looks skinny in her skinny jeans...and they think they could look like her. I disagree with you!

Specializes in Respiratory Education.
I don't see how that makes any sense in the context of the average nurse's role in patient education for obesity. Please elaborate on how the concept of "liking" fits into a situation where a nurse has many patients of varying diagnoses and who may never again see the patient she explained the proposed diet and exercise program to.

perhaps she meant admire??

Specializes in Peds/outpatient FP,derm,allergy/private duty.

I'm back to explain what I meant, and appreciate the attempts to explain what other people meant, because like all of us our opinion is based on personal experience. I take this thread to be talking about "nothing worse than a FAT nurse" in general, rather than a specific role such as a job in a medically-directed weight loss program where the clientele seeks assistance for one reason.

In the general sense I understand the role of nurse as educator to be primarily a conduit and communicator for standardized, or evidence-based treatments, and diet and exercise information is one of them. This is because we don't personally have every condition we will be teaching our patients to manage. I see the most important skill in that sense to be an effective assessor of someone's current knowledge base and determiner of the best mode of communicating the information based on individual characteristics of the patient. In this general sense the patient might like or dislike the nurse, but it won't be based on his or her personal physical characteristics.

But should it be in the case of lifestyle choices that seem readily observable to the patient, as in the case of weight? To me, an answer of "yes" would require that the nurse disclose details of her personal life, rather than professional, to be totally accurate, as a "fat" appearance can be caused by a number of prescribed meds or medical conditions.

The absolute principle of professional/personal boundary is blurred frequently in daily life, so in a setting where a nurse and patient interact frequently over a period of time a nurse might disclose details of their own weight loss efforts - and successful results could encourage the patient to do the same, but strictly speaking this would move the nurse out of the professional role into a "coach" or mutual support relationship.

Sorry for the excessive wordiness but I realized my last reply wasn't very clear.

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