Why So Many Unhealthy Nurses?

[kukukajoo]

Are you unhealthy?

I am still a student and today our instructor was telling us about nurses being one of the most unhealthy groups overall with weight issues, etc. She said "The docs get it and try to be healthy but the nurses dont seem to grasp the health concept themselves."

WHY?

I am curious for personal reasons (my own health sucks! but want to be healthier in future) and also thinking of doing this subject as my senior project/presentation in sort.

What causes them to be so unhealthy and what can be done to change this? Who is taking care of us? Are we destined to take care ourselves last?

[Spidey's mom, ADN, BSN, RN]

If 25 percent of the nurses at your workplace seem to have a major weight problem, then this is still far better than the national average. After all, 2/3 of all Americans are either overweight or obese.

If only 1/4 (25 percent) of the nurses at your facility are overweight, then that would seem rather good when compared to the rest of the nation.

Exactly!! :balloons:

steph

[vetnrse]

As nurses are caregivers, it seems like they take care of everyone else very well , as the priority, and put themselves last on the list to care for themselves. I know thats what I do. The fast pace of nursing is demanding and multitask oriented,hence the coffee and sugar seems to be the quick fix to keep up. In the end though, it depletes the immune system terribly, and unless one feels the effects of that over time,the habit stays. Many nurses I know are partnered with alcoholics and sometimes abusers. Bottom line is, nurses seem to take alot of garbage but just keep pushing through. Once in awhile a sad outcome happens such as one nurse I worked with who commited suicide (was married to an abusing alcoholic).

Because of my own health, I was forced to change and eat well, take supplements and exercise,(without coffee) I drink green and herbal tea instead.If I dont do these things, I can barely get out of bed. Health breakdown happens for a reason, it is a message to change your lifestyle for the better. We have to take care of ourselves before we can take care of others to the fullest.

[vetnrse]

I do know it is hard to find, say gyms open at odd hours, before and after shifts. Two co-workers I know walk in a park after work, or around the outside of the hospital, and have lost a LOT of weight. I also have a theory, I would have walked with them too, but the hay fever was so bad for me this year, I turned them down for 6 weeks. My theory is this-many nurses become nurses because they have had health problems growing up and are inspired. Maybe many have asthma or allergies, things like that that are with them for life and at times act up to knock them down from whatever exercise program they are in. If this happens it is easy to lose whatever momentum they may have gained and have to start from square one, when their issue resolves?

yep, its easier to maintane a habit, say an exercise program, than to lose it and have to start up again.

BTW cute dogs.

[cmo421]

If 25 percent of the nurses at your workplace seem to have a major weight problem, then this is still far better than the national average. After all, 2/3 of all Americans are either overweight or obese.

If only 1/4 (25 percent) of the nurses at your facility are overweight, then that would seem rather good when compared to the rest of the nation.

Still alot of nurses in a population of people. Look around.

[MAISY, RN-ER, BSN, RN]

Not thin, can't run a marathon, and hate dieting.

HOWEVER I CAN...

Work 15 hours and keep going, and going.

Hold my bladder for a full shift if no break....not too healthy.

Not drink anything for a full shift if no break....not too healthy. No sense in drinking if I can't pee!

Not eat anything healthy for a full shift if no break....not too healthy. Let's face it anything eaten on the run in a hospital needs to be in a wrapper, who wants to touch anything!

Stand for 15 hours, not healthy for our leg veins....ask anyone who stands, or any vascular surgeon.

Drag other unhealthy people all over the place caring for them. Not too healthy on our backs and musculature.

Deal with people's illness, families, dysfunction, deaths, coworkers, and stress stress stress....CAN YOU SAY MENTALLY UNHEALTHY?

I do get up and eat a healthy breakfast of cheerios and one cup of coffee....from there it depends. Have a healthclub membership that I attempt to use...everything else is up in the air! Some nights after 15 hours I will eat anything in my path...Watch out!

The way I look at it is that perhaps there are so many "big" nurses because the big girls can heft around the patients. Just a thought.

I would actually cherish a shift where I had enough energy to finish a shift and then head to the gym. I know the 20 somethings can't do it.

Maisy;)

[vetnrse]

This is a case by case, individual issue. I'd need to see some hard evidence that overall nurses are less health than the general population, or that doctors are healthier than nurses.

I worked with one doc who worked for 10-12 hours straight, 5 days a week, without eating except for maybe an occasional candybar or something -- and he is diabetic!

I currently work with a doc who has had gastric bypass and every time I turn around she's eating a ho-ho or twinky or something.

In contrast, I'm pretty healthy and make a concerted effort to be. My two nurse colleagues are also in great shape. One is in her 50s and although she never eats at work she's well within her normal BMI. The other nurse works out every day before work and is in great shape, drinks a huge amount of water every day.

It's silly to say overall nurses are unhealthy. Americans overall are unhealthy.

So true!

[abbaking]

Half of America is fat and overweight, and its getting worse. But why nurses are more so than MD's? Lets consider that an MD has his/her multi-million dollar house, Louis Vuitton and Prada home furnishings, drives a Jag or a Benz, and his at the hospital doing rounds or all of 1 hour. With all that downtime that MD's obviously have it makes sense to be working out more, dieting, liposuctioning, facelifts and more. But for the rest of REAL WORKING AMERICA, we are so burnt out and tired that we eat and gain weight like no tomorrow. I am no slim fry by any means, but i try to eat senseable.:monkeydance:

[TheCommuter, BSN, RN]

Half of America is fat and overweight, and its getting worse. But why nurses are more so than MD's? Lets consider that an MD has his/her multi-million dollar house, Louis Vuitton and Prada home furnishings, drives a Jag or a Benz, and his at the hospital doing rounds or all of 1 hour. With all that downtime that MD's obviously have it makes sense to be working out more, dieting, liposuctioning, facelifts and more. But for the rest of REAL WORKING AMERICA, we are so burnt out and tired that we eat and gain weight like no tomorrow.

So true. I believe that the more-moneyed members of society (physicians included) have more autonomy within their working lives, in addition to a greater sense of control. Not too many doctors work 12 or 16 hour shifts under extremely stressful conditions, so they have ample time to fit a full-body workout into their schedules. Doctors also have the autonomy to come and go as they please, which is another issue that further enables them to eat meals in a timely manner and exercise regularly.

However, I continue to stand by by earlier assertion that some doctors in America need to shed more than a few pounds.

[cast924]

I've been working as a nurse for 17 months now and still find it hard to try to stay on a healthy balanced plan. I do Day/Night rotations which places a great stress to my body..working nights I trying sticking with light snacks & avoid caffeine.... but I've noticed that my body is much more tired..my sleep is affected and my weight is fluctuating--then I get sick....Working on the day shift is another problem at times--I work on a busy cardiac floor and I feel like I have to eat lunch in 15 minutes before I get called on to check on a patient..b/c we usually don't get coverage on our breaks....This does't happen all the time...but transitioning from night shift to day shift is a major stressor on my health & once I get the chance to switch over to just days or evenings I think it'll make a big difference!!!

[bigjay]

I think there's a lot of factors leading to an unhealthy lifestyle in nurses. I also think that as a general population in North America we tend to have an unhealthy lifestyle so that doesn't make nursing stick out by any means. That said I think there are quite a few factors that set nurses at a disadvantage.

1) Most nurses are women.

This is not a knock on women by any means but generally women are not as athletic as men. Men tend to be involved in more sports and this is often their social outlet as well as a means of exercise. Women tend not to have this involvement and thus don't have as much of a predisposition to getting exercise through sport. Men also tend to have a great muscles mass than women which increases their metabolism more so than their female counterparts.

As well, many nurses as women tend to shoulder more of the at home duties eg child care, laundry, cooking, etc. This leaves less time for exercise and more stress to themselves. I do see this a lot with my female colleagues but I also think this is a comparitively easy thing to fix by making one's partner more involved with these duties (easy to say). I've never quite understood why many of my colleagues insist on shouldering the full load at home when they have a fully capable partner to share it but I hear that they do time and time again (I personally do all the cooking and most of the child care at home since I work weekends only). I think this is often a good starting point for a more healthy lifestyle.

2) Shift Work

Shift work makes it more difficult to follow a healthy lifestyle. Twelve hour shifts make eating, sleeping and exercise more difficult. Night shift is even tougher, especially if you have difficulties sleeping during the day.

Being unable to take breaks, eat meals, etc at work... well I can't imagine that. I work on a busy Onc/G-Med floor and I take my breaks religously. From what I've heard working conditions in the US are much worse than here in Canada but I could not stand working somewhere where not being able to take breaks was the norm. Sure you may have times where it's impossible to get away but that should be the exception rather than the norm. Again I'm speaking about working conditions in Canada but if that's what it's like EVERYWHERE in the US... yikes. I'd seriously look for better working conditions (I imagine they must exist somewhere),

So I can definately see why a lot of nurses can be unhealthy but the reasons aren't much different than the population at large (which is largely unhealthy). It's important to work exercise and good diet in to your life even if it's hard. It may be difficult but it's not impossible.

[RN17HSPC]

I think nursing is one of the most unhealthy professions in the medical field. I think a lot of it has to do with stress. As someone mentioned we can't walk away from the stress. I use to work 12 hour shifts, where sometimes I was lucky if I got one meal because I was running nonstop, you would be lucky if you were able to grab an unhealthy snack at the desk as you passed by. If you work midnights or evenings it was even worse, because it seems like you are eating just to stay awake. Then, you come home to family, which can add to the stress especially if they are in school. Days off were typically spent catching up on sleep and running errands. Exercise, who has time? Even if you work an 8 hour shift and have a family, life can be extremely hectic. So, I'd have to say probably a lot of it has to be stressful lifestyles of nurses.

[kukukajoo, LPN]

Thanks everyone for the input! I know that being a student I have gained about 50# and seemed to have developed bad eating habits that are almost routine. The stress is brutal and I always thought I was good at not letting stress getting to me until nsg school anyhow!!

I too have major family obligations and financial ones as well. Hard as a student but hoping some of that stress will be lessened when I am a nurse and can afford the bills for once. I will also be able to afford the more exensive better foods. Now if I could just break my habit of scarfing and running!

I am hoping to join a gym come the beginning of the year if doc clears me.

I don't know if nurses are any worse off than the general population here in the US but overall the US is in BAD shape and I would think that as nurses knowing the A & P and implications of it all we would strive to be healthier. I know that I personally feel like a hyppocrite for having bad habits and not practicing what I preach and hope to change this......

I am thinking of working on this subject as my senior project.