There's nothing worse than a FAT nurse!

[Darkstar1485]

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?

[nursel56]

OK so let's pretend that every overweight nurse is that way because of something beyond their control and that it doesn't matter to patients coworkers or family because a fat nurse giving health advice will be taken just as seriously as a fit one and the opposite sex only cares about whats inside anyway. Furthermore all of the overweight nurses will live a longer healthier fuller life than the fit ones so they will ultimately win this one. Ta Da ! It never ceases to amaze me how hard people will work to get offended. If people spent as much time on their personal well being as they did trying to police what other people can say or think they would be better off. The PC pricklies are a real drag (meaning downer not cross dresser so please no flames).

How is the average person supposed to tell which skinny nurse is "fit" and which consumes the majority of their calories in snack cakes? I'm pretty sure both nurses and patients would feel a bit awkward with the type of body checks required to tell the difference. I suppose you could offer the patient a pair of skin fold calipers to use before the nurse is permitted to proceed but still...

I'd rather have a fat nurse who remembers the patient is on the bedpan or can cath any kind of anatomy anybody's got than have her shamed out of the profession because somebody somewhere thought she was a hypocrit in her performance of one aspect of care of one type of patient.

Note: some of the above was slightly sarcastic.

[jaad]

While I could see how the MD's comment would offend the OP if taken the wrong way, there is something to be said about the meaning behind the MD's comment. I understand that medical conditions/meds/ect...can cause obesity, however, many times it is simply laziness of the part of the individual.

I personally do not think that a nurse who is morbidly obese has ANY business discussing a "healthy" lifestyle to a post CABG patient, or a post ortho patient. It is simply the pot calling the kettle black. i'm sure I'll be flamed at some point for my beliefs, but "do as I say and not as I do" is a $### poor example to lead by.

So, again, while the MD was rude and condescending, he does have a point to consider...

What's even more sad is that 1 out of 3 people are overweight...and every year most people add on more weight...so not only are these nurses setting a bad example, but if they stop discussing "healthy" lifestyles to patients then everyone loses.

[jaad]

I don't understand why it matters if the provider providing lifestyle advice to promote wellness in a patient follows their own advice; the focus is the pt not the provider.

I tell my patients quite often to abstain from ethanol intake but I love have a beer myself.

There is a big difference here.

If I set up an apt to see a psychologist for depression, hoping to get help, but the staff were all moping and crying, I'd run!

[jaad]

people...doctors, nurses, gas station clerks...say insensitive things sometimes. often, when it's said in humor the person realizes that it may be considered rude. they try to disguise their true sentiment, by covering it up with humor. other times, the person really is oblivious to an inappropriate comment and the possible hurt it can cause someone. i'm going to assume for the sake of conversation that you have felt fat in your life and it's something that caused you pain.

these situations are put in our lives to teach us about ourselves. when we are offended by someone's comment, it's important to look at why you were hurt and respond to that internally. you may be sensitive to the word "fat", if you've felt that way in your life. he may have thought of it as a harmless joke, but really poked at a tender part of your soul. instead of reacting by becoming worried if obese nurses can be taken seriously by docs, a good response would have been to tell him frankly, "i am hurt by that comment. there are days when i feel still feel fat, as it's something that i have struggled with."

let me assure that nps can be just as insensitive. years ago, when i was pregnant, an np told me "you need to stop gaining weight". no rationales, no explanation, no teaching, nothing. as someone who had struggled with an eating disorder earlier in my life, that really hit me in the proverbial gut.

this is why, as nurses, we have to learn to communicate in a way that provokes desire to be healthful, instead of sending people into a defensive, self-doubting state where true health is all but unattainable. take a page from this doc and try to think before you speak. it's one of the greatest gifts there is!

xoxo,

[color=#ee82ee]kate

"as soon as you see something, you already start to intellectualize it. as soon as you intellectualize something, it is no longer what you saw." shunryu suzuki-roshi

13 years ago I was mildly obese (after seeing dictation in my chart LOL).

My doctor told me to start a low glycemic index diet and avoid gluten. I got my life back and thank her all of the time for saving me!

Got off of all cholesterol and pain meds, skin glowing, no more knee pain, no more heart palps...and size 6 pants feels sooo much better than 16:-)

[jaad]

I'm Asian, my doctor is Asian. We sat down to look over some of my numbers (BMI, glucose leves, blah, blah, blah). He looked at me and said "your overweight". Ok I knew that, I work nigth shift causing me to gain a little extra then usual. He looked at my chart, then me, the chart, then me again "Stop eating rice."

How can my "Asian" doctor tell me to stop eating rice? He knows it's our staple? He's right though, white grains are a big carb intake so, I've been "trying" but I still enjoy it once in a while.

I know I'm overweight, and I do expect to be overweight until Nursing School is done. For a guy, I just don't get enough time to go to the gym in between classes and work.

Your Doctor was just having fun with you. He was giving you motivation and a confirmation for your accomplishment.

You can have rice...just switch to brown and add some legumes to it:-)

[jaad]

First of all, Darkstar1485, I am sorry for opening this up, but I have to respond to this.

Kel RN, I appreciate what you are trying to say but.. NO!

I happen to have a brother with an ID, and I NEVER assumed that the OP was calling her Doctor stupid by using "retarded" as a slang term. It never crossed my mind until YOU brought it up. I know the definition of the word, and quite frankly, that fact that you ASSUMED that the OP meant stupid or was using it in a negative way not only offended me, i KNOW it woud offend my brother. Your knee jerk reaction says more about YOU than anything. My brother would not care that the OP used the term "socially retarded" bc he knows what the word actually means. He does not equate "retarded" with "stupid". The word means means delayed. Plain and simple. Just bc a whole bunch of idiots decided to use the word in a negative way, does not give you the right to jump on your high horse and condemn the OP for using it like you're some sort of superhero for the intellectually disabled. The ID don't need you to save the world from the word retarded.

I am a nurse with a learning disability...and I agree...didn't even notice it until it was made a huge deal of.

[jaad]

You could be like some thin, cute nurses I know who are well respected and liked because they are so petite, young and cute. No one can see their insides shredded apart from the mounds of ex-lax they take and the trips to the bathroom to puke up every meal except for their psychiatrists of course. Or you could be one of those nurses who never gets fat b/c she works double shifts every day and has another job on the weekends where the stress and lack of sleep is probably putting her in her grave several years early from a destroyed immune system. Then there are the nurses who eat bad, but only once a day. Their coronary arteries look like cheese stix, but they're thin. Don't forget the COPD nurses who may not smoke, but inhale twice as much pollution b/c they live in big cities. Hmmm, well, it appears to me that the message here is: The way we look is directly proportional to how we are treated . With no pun intended, too much weight is placed on weight.

Tell your doctor to pizz off and congrats on loosing the L. B.s! :)

Or you could just be thin because you work your tail off:-)

[jaad]

What about the many Physicians that smoke? Should they be fired for encouraging the use of "cancer sticks?":bored:

They can say all they want...but people watch and smell unfortunately:-)

[jaad]

If you follow your logic, then nurses and doctors with medically-based disabilities should not practice because living without illness/disease is what we teach, right?

Obesity is no more 'sinful' than poor sleeping habits and wearing shoes that are bad for your feet. It's all less than optimal.

Statements like yours demonstrate a complete lack of understanding! Obesity has numerous underlying causes. I get the sense you think all fat people love stuffing their faces with unhealthy nibbles and absolutely LOVE being made to feel less-than valuable and less-than beautiful.

Besides, fat people have mortgages to pay. Fat people need jobs like everyone else and are often just as good, and sometimes better, than their peers.

Shame on people who denigrate the value of obese people!

Much truth to what you are saying and as much as I want to agree with you...patients have eyes and judge the heck out of us. Just look at all of the commercials with beautiful people. If we had a bunch of diseased ridden, obese people trying to sell a product with the benefits of a weight loss, nobody would buy. They only buy if it looks like sumthin' they want...it's sad but reality!

[elkpark]

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!

Sure there is -- a fat physician.

[trymybest]

Sure there is -- a fat physician.

Lol. This is true

[CalRNtoBe2013]

The fact that there are 167 posts on a derogatory, judgmental, and discriminatory thread is absolutely unbelievable to me.