soo, is our gait and weight going to be an issue regardless?

[gloryfied]

Are nurses really destined to be overweight and walk with a poor gait sometime in time? I mean, if it's not the weight of a nurse, it's their gait. Can we be nurses for years, and still walk as great as we started and have a great metabolism as we started well if that was your case. Every nurse I see walks funny, or is alittle chubby, as they always say, theyve gained so much weight since nursing.

I mean, im just curious. my weight is not an issue, but my gait, heavens my Gait, could be in addition to working nights, but my legs arent connected to my body any more. When day shift walks in, here comes the first 8 with their unique gait, shuffling, and all sorts of varities. When i see them, i twtch because this job is already stressful, let alone be morphed from it. -___-

[noyesno, MSN, APRN, NP]

We're more physically active than most occupations. Have less time to eat than most peeps. So it's puzzling we pork up. Maybe the weight gain comes from "eating our feelings" or binge eating after a long shift?

In terms of the gait issues, these problems are mostly likely due to osteoarthritis and/or back problems. Weight would contribute to this, as would the wear and tear caused by the physical aspects of our jobs. Also, the fact that it would be hard to get time off to get our joints replaced is probably why nurses just stick with the arthritic joints and stumble around.

[DedHedRN]

I had a funny shuffle that started up this year, and persisted for several months. It resolved when I bought a very very comfortable pair of shoes and all a sudden all my leg and foot pain went away.