Overweight and Working in Healthcare

devil_in_a_blue_dress

I have been an RN for a decade now. I have always had a normal BMI. I have worked with ALOT of very overweight nurses, it seems like weight issues are more predominant in nursing (would be interesting if someone did some research on that!). I don't judge a nurse on her weight, I judge them on their performance. Your just as lightly to meet a hopeless skinny nurse as you are a heavy one.

This. I don't have too many medical issues -- but I have delivered a child and had some minor women issues. I have had terrible nurses who were thin and heavy. My doctor is overweight -- I love her. She is amazingly genuine, thorough, and knowledgeable . One of the partners in her practice is a thin woman who - she has a horrific bedside manner and I avoided seeing her at all costs.

I don't judge anyone based on how they look before I had a chance to see how they preformed their jobs. Just because somebody is overweight doesn't mean they lack knowledge, it means they are overweight. I don't need my doctor or nurse to be be an example to me -- I am a grown woman who knows that people who ignore their doctor's advice because they "don't practice what they preach" are looking for excuses to not be responsible for themselves. Sorry, it's true. You pay your doctor. It's their JOB to tell you things that are relevant to your medical care. If you are overweight and have elevated blood sugar and they tell you you are at risk of type 2 diabetes, their weight is irrelevant to YOUR pre-diabetes, isn't it?

I need doctors/nurses to have the knowledge to tell me the answers to MY medical issues/questions. That is it.

I would be so totally turned off is I saw a doctor or nurse who thought their physical appearance somehow made them competent.

walleyclan1

I am a veterinarian and I do tend to feel uncomfortable having a talk with the owners of an overweight pet if the owners themselves are overweight. I don't feel uncomfortable having the talk with thin owners. I think this is mostly because I worry the overweight owners will feel personally judged. I like to believe that though it would great for those in the medical field to demonstrate good health habits for the public, it is not necessary. I can talk to you for an hour about how to train your dog and I know what I am talking about, but if you come to my house, my dogs will jump all over you, lick you to death, hog the couch, and counter surf.

FlaxMilk

Yes, especially when the healthcare provider is significantly bigger than me and lecturing me about losing weight. (yes this happened).

Assuming you did need to lose weight, why wouldn't it happen? The doctor isn't there to compete with you. The doctor is there to tell you about your health needs.

It truly doesn't make a difference to me. Fat on the body doesn't affect knowledge in the brain. Losing weight doesn't take an MD, so holding health care providers to a higher standard than the rest of us is silly to me. Same with smoking--we all know now smoking can kill. We know as well as our doctors do to stay a healthy weight and not smoke. It matters to me whether my doctors know how to evaluate and care for my health, not what weaknesses they succumb to (as long as they don't affect my health and safety. No drinking in the operating room, please.)

dlanoux

Well, I can certainly understand where you are coming from. I will be graduating with my bachelor's in nursing this December, and my weight really hit me a month or so back. Let me tell you, while going through nursing school I packed on some serious weight....about 100 extra pounds. EEK!

In April, I was mortified when I had to speak to a patient about losing some weight. Look at me! Who was I to tell anyone that they needed to lose weight? Geez.....what a hypocrite I must have looked like. That is when I made up my mind to change things! Around the first of May I started dieting and I started going to the gym 3 days a week.

I hope that I can drop about 70 pounds by December.....I am down 20 pounds right now. Besides feeling better about myself, I am sure losing this weight will make it much easier to get a job.....and to talk to my future patient about weight loss when I need to.

dakotababy

As for people who do not work in healthcare, do you frown upon overweight healthcare providers (doctors, nurses, therapist, etc.)?

YES

One of my doctors has a morbidly obese nurse and when this doctor was explaining how my (then) obesity caused my (then) health issues, I so wanted to yell Tell it to your big a** nurse who can barely walk! This same nurse, upon seeing me last month, actually asked ME how I lost weight. lol WUT?? You are a nurse! You KNOW what to do! My goodness. And then her face fell just like everyone else's when I said portion control and exercise. I found that to be very sad.

Way to make assumptions. Not all nurses are dieticians too believe it or not.

metacognition

I go to a doctor who is quite obese and to be honest I did feel a little judgmental when she told me to lose weight or face diabetes.

I know someone who is dying from the effects of morbid obesity yet taught health education for 20 years and would be quite comfortably retired, if not for the money blown on 15 doctors and twice that number on daily pills. But this person claims to "take care" of themselves because they show up at the doctor's appointments on time.

People do bad things to themselves every day but it's not my business. I used to be obese or overweight for ten years, so who am I to judge someone else for having extra adipose tissue ?

I can't imagine a nurse on the night shift maintaining a healthy weight, either - the combination of stress and hours would make it very hard.

But I hope that doctors make an effort to practice what they preach. Otherwise how would they connect with their patients and motivate them to change ?

lillith1991

Spinderella95, is it reasonable to say theyed make better choices if said choices were on hand for them 24/7?

For those of us who care, probably. For the rest....depression, eating disorders, and lack of motivation due to chronic fatigue, etc who knows? We aren't superhuman, even though our jobs / demand / public / lawyers try to make it so. There is a reason healthcare workers (and doctors in particular) have such a high divorce / suicide / substance-abuse rate...

What you say is very true. People expect drs and healthcare workers to be perfect but their human to. For those who care it would be easier for them to make such changes but others its just not realistic not when they don't have time to sleep or in the case of mental health problem seek counciling.

Alicia_P_28

I am a nursing student and think my health and overall appearance should be an example of how my patients should be. I know it will be hard for me to talk to someone about the benefits of weight loss and healthy eating if I'm at an unhealthy weight. I used to be a smoker, and working with patients with COPD and CHF telling them that quitting is best for them was very difficult, especially if they asked me if I ever smoked or had to deal with quitting. Now that I am a nonsmoker I believe my patients will respect what I have to say more instead of just dismissing it. Same goes with weight in my opinion. But, I do see A LOT of obese nurses, and they seem to be successful...but I really think they'd get their messages across better if they were in better health, and weren't 'preaching to the choir' every time they talked to the type 2 diabetic about their weight.

impudentputz

Honestly I could care less if my doctor or what-have-you were overweight or not... Its do as they say, not as they do.

However, I have recently decided to study to become a nutritionist...Now thats something that I refuse to be overweight...so it is kind of a double edged sword for me. I dont care if they are overweight BUT i care if i am

Alicia_P_28

My comment above is totally not saying that an overweight nurse or doctor is less qualified or not as good at their job than the thinner version! I know several doctors, nurses, and aids that are overweight and wonderful. Weight doesn't determine if you're good at your job! I do think that it makes it difficult to talk to patients about making lifestyle changes if you (as a medical professional) aren't able to do them. Like with me and smoking...I had to talk to my pt in clinical about how her symptoms of COPD would be drastically reduced if she quit smoking. She asked me if I ever smoked or knew anyone who did..and if I would tell them the same thing. I had to tell her that I was a smoker as well...she looked at me like she was soo disappointed in me and lost all faith in what I was telling her. She asked me how I could still light a cig knowing exactly what it was doing to me (she was uneducated on what exactly smoking did to the body, like most are). That's when I made my mind up to quit. The same scenario could have played out with weight. I feel like it's a little hypocritical to tell your patient about losing weight when you are overweight, just like it is to tell one to quit smoking when you just came from your cig break. I feel like we lose credibility when we don't actually practice what we preach, and like maybe the severity of being overweight is reduced in the patient's eyes. I worked with several overweight and obese nurses, but I also worked with a few 'health nuts' who made healthy choices, walked laps down the hall when it was slow, got up early to hit the gym before coming to their 6th 12 hour shift in a row, brought a salad and smoothies (even brought their blenders!!)...being healthy is possible in the medical field..it might not be as easy as vending machine surfing at midnight, but it is possible!

karenertl

I'm a nurse's aide in a nursing home. I've never had to worry about being overweight myself. I try not to judge people negatively because of their weight. I figure it's their choice to make and I have enough anxiety issues to deal with without having to worry about how much anybody else weighs.

Mustang_Susie

RN for 25 years.
Have never really been overweight.

It is interesting that healthcare professionals, see the effects weight, smoking, drinking etc. can have on a person's health and yet it doesn't motivate them enough to change.
The thing that bothers me most about my co-workers, especially for some reason the CNAs, is their poor nutritional choices.
A lot of them are so young, many single mothers, and I know they are setting themselves up for future health problems that easily could be avoided.

As a side note:
I was remembering how I saw a patient with end stage COPD in nursing school and quit my social smoking cold turkey.
No way I wanted to die like that.

Mustang_Susie

I go to a doctor who is quite obese and to be honest I did feel a little judgmental when she told me to lose weight or face diabetes.

I know someone who is dying from the effects of morbid obesity yet taught health education for 20 years and would be quite comfortably retired, if not for the money blown on 15 doctors and twice that number on daily pills. But this person claims to "take care" of themselves because they show up at the doctor's appointments on time.

People do bad things to themselves every day but it's not my business. I used to be obese or overweight for ten years, so who am I to judge someone else for having extra adipose tissue ?

I can't imagine a nurse on the night shift maintaining a healthy weight, either - the combination of stress and hours would make it very hard.

But I hope that doctors make an effort to practice what they preach. Otherwise how would they connect with their patients and motivate them to change ?

I've worked second shift for years.
Granted its not night shift, but I am not overweight.
My job can be extremely stressful but it's up to me what choices I make.
I choose to eat well and exercise.
Those choices are available to every nurse, every person,

eileen0515

Health care professionals are human, like the rest of us. We all know stress can be a component in obesity, perhaps health care employers should look at their working conditions. I find it appaling hearing some of these stories. No working individual should be denied time to rest, time to eat well, time to go to the bathroom.

That said, anyone working in the field of nutrition should really maintain a healthy weight. It would convey expertise.

Mustang_Susie

I agree with spinderella95. Its not over eating but what they are eating. Drs and nurses don't get much time if any to eat let alone eat properly. Is that a good excuse ? Nope. But things fall by the wayside when you don't have time. How do I know this? Well epilepsy, fused kidneys, and an adrenal disorder means I interacted with drs and nurses a lot in my 22 years of life. I know they have next to no time for themselves.

Spinderella95, is it reasonable to say theyed make better choices if said choices were on hand for them 24/7?

The better choices can be on hand if you bring them to work with you, which is exactly what I do.
I rarely go the vending machines.

kdeaux1959

I have worked in a health care related field before (mental health actually -- QMRP), but currently do not. I know a number of doctors and nurses who are obese and/or overweight. The primary concern I have about it is not so much that they are saying one thing and doing another but these fields can be pretty physically demanding (especially nursing)... It can be really hard on them to stand on their feet for a 12 hour shirt and carrying around an extra 50-75 lbs. As far as judging, I really don't because who knows why they are the way they are... Is it a mental thing? or is it simply that they are so busy caring for others they have no time for themselves? I am glad though that you are working on your issues.. that will help you as you try to help others in this field. Best wishes.

Meamo

Healthcare is very superficial. Their are skinny unhealthy people dying on the inside from unhealthy lifestyles that don't affect their looks. You can be attractive and overweight ..but not too overweight and unattractive.

Most medical doctors are not nutritionalist,either.
#My observations.

keepongoingnmw

I have had the same GP since I was 12 I have seen his weight go up and down over the years, I never thought twice about it. It has never really bothered me. Somebody upthread made a good point though, about an obese doctor taking different approaches to health like prescribing a pill instead of advocating healthier choices. Something to think about.

savithny

Just to chip in - the thing about people always having been skinny - they know what it is to eat healthy and move and so on. They don't, however, know what it is to have to make a change.

No, they don't necessarily.

We get caught in this trap of false logic: "If thin=healthy, then whatever a thin person is eating must be healthy."

I just got into it the other day on a parenting board with a woman who was saying awful things about her young daughter because her daughter was overweight. This woman was providing ramen and cheetos as the only snacks for her kids, and kept saying "But i've always been thin, and that's all I eat!" She was drinking nothing but koolaid and had no healthy food in the house, and insisted that she was "eating healthy" SIMPLY BECAUSE she'd never gotten overweight.

A whole lot of skinny people have no idea about healthy eating. A lot of them tend to assume that "It works for me, you must be ...(bad/wrong/cheating/lying) if it doesn't work for you...."