Why are nurses obese?

padams2359

We may not like the mentality of it, but we have to understand it. Would we go to a mechanic with a crappy running car, an attorney that was in jail, or go to a pediatrician who does not have and does not want children? We may use the services of these people, but we will all be on our toes as to their suggestions. I think it is sort of the same thing.

However, millions of women go to male ob/gyns everyday with issues he will NEVER truely understand.

rickyd88

We may not like the mentality of it, but we have to understand it. Would we go to a mechanic with a crappy running car, an attorney that was in jail, or go to a pediatrician who does not have and does not want children? We may use the services of these people, but we will all be on our toes as to their suggestions. I think it is sort of the same thing.

However, millions of women go to male ob/gyns everyday with issues he will NEVER truely understand.

You're very right but my view on this topic is that nurses aren't dieticians. When my sedated intensive care patient needs a specific type of feed based on their required calories and electrolyte imbalances, I call the dietician or specialist nutrition team. I'm a nurse and I shouldn't be judged on my size when it's irrelevant to the job I do. When I'm too fat to resuscitate someone then you can shoot me down, but til then it's go nothing to do with anyone but me. Don't want a fat nurse? It's your life ... Or death if you want to be narrow minded about who is responsible for your care.

IanBee93

Why do mechanics drive crappy cars?
Why does anyone drink alcohol, smoke, do drugs, not eat paleo and exercise all the time?
Why doesn't everyone continue their education to improve their knowledge?
Why sky dive?
Why do any action sport that endangers a person?
Why not live within your income and have no debt?


Yeah...

Not the samething...at all

IanBee93

tough hours - lots of stress and hospitals typically dont have cheap healthy meals available in the cafeteria. Especially if you are working night shift you will get suckered into the pizza at 3am or wings or whatever - nature of the beast

lots of overweight doctors too

You can eat pizza and not be overweight. Portion control -.-

ldrosophila

We may not like the mentality of it, but we have to understand it. Would we go to a mechanic with a crappy running car, an attorney that was in jail, or go to a pediatrician who does not have and does not want children? We may use the services of these people, but we will all be on our toes as to their suggestions. I think it is sort of the same thing.

However, millions of women go to male ob/gyns everyday with issues he will NEVER truely understand.

You're very right but my view on this topic is that nurses aren't dieticians. When my sedated intensive care patient needs a specific type of feed based on their required calories and electrolyte imbalances, I call the dietician or specialist nutrition team. I'm a nurse and I shouldn't be judged on my size when it's irrelevant to the job I do. When I'm too fat to resuscitate someone then you can shoot me down, but til then it's go nothing to do with anyone but me. Don't want a fat nurse? It's your life ... Or death if you want to be narrow minded about who is responsible for your care.

Never met a parent take their baby out of the level III NICU or PICU when their child was on a ventilator because the nurse was too heavy. This thread is stupid anyone who is a nurse, knows a nurse, or actively works with nurses knows what these women and men go through every day. No amount of compensation can compare to the work they must endure. The nay sayers are the ones who have NO IDEA and only speak out of ignorance.

PS I'd be the one to calculate your calorie requirement :devil:

IanBee93

I don't see how you can work in the medical field, and be obese/overweight. That has always bugged me. How are you going to tell others they need to eat less junk, when you're eating horrible things yourself? And none of that ''I work long hours'' crap. There's something called calorie control.

I'm a nurse. Not a dietician. I've never once told a patient to lose weight. My job is to love and support people unconditionally in their weakest moments. My job is to save lives whatever condition they're in without prejudice or judgment. Not even considering that I'm a nurse, if I was employing a nurse it would be more important to me that they were ****-hot in knowledge and skills, not that they can bench press 200kgs and had a bmi of 25. I'll tell you something though - I might be overweight but I know a few of my 150lb friends couldn't shift a 500lb patient like I can.

I don't care, I would still want my doctor/nurse to be a role model, and be fit and healthy.

5n0wbal1

My mother-in-law is a nurse and she is obese. From personal observation, it seems like she thinks that medications will save her, and that means she doesn't have to take personal responsibility for her own health. I kindly try to tell her otherwise and so do her doctors, but she's not a very good listener. :sad:

dswolverine

A nurse friend told me she gained weight due to the 'scrub effect'. She pretty much lived out of scrubs so she didn't have any kind of "alarm" when she started gaining weight since the scrubs would expand with her. Only when she put on regular, non-elastic waisted pants did she realize she was gaining. I'm not sure how much truth there is to this theory of course, but it was hers

heatherterp

This thought has crossed my mind as well. Sure shift work sucks, but there is time to be healthy. we all have to wwork on it.

rickyd88

I don't see how you can work in the medical field, and be obese/overweight. That has always bugged me. How are you going to tell others they need to eat less junk, when you're eating horrible things yourself? And none of that ''I work long hours'' crap. There's something called calorie control.

I'm a nurse. Not a dietician. I've never once told a patient to lose weight. My job is to love and support people unconditionally in their weakest moments. My job is to save lives whatever condition they're in without prejudice or judgment. Not even considering that I'm a nurse, if I was employing a nurse it would be more important to me that they were ****-hot in knowledge and skills, not that they can bench press 200kgs and had a bmi of 25. I'll tell you something though - I might be overweight but I know a few of my 150lb friends couldn't shift a 500lb patient like I can.

I don't care, I would still want my doctor/nurse to be a role model, and be fit and healthy.

Good luck finding one.

I don't like my patients to be *kitten* but we don't all get what we want ...

IanBee93

I don't see how you can work in the medical field, and be obese/overweight. That has always bugged me. How are you going to tell others they need to eat less junk, when you're eating horrible things yourself? And none of that ''I work long hours'' crap. There's something called calorie control.

I'm a nurse. Not a dietician. I've never once told a patient to lose weight. My job is to love and support people unconditionally in their weakest moments. My job is to save lives whatever condition they're in without prejudice or judgment. Not even considering that I'm a nurse, if I was employing a nurse it would be more important to me that they were ****-hot in knowledge and skills, not that they can bench press 200kgs and had a bmi of 25. I'll tell you something though - I might be overweight but I know a few of my 150lb friends couldn't shift a 500lb patient like I can.

I don't care, I would still want my doctor/nurse to be a role model, and be fit and healthy.

Good luck finding one.

I don't like my patients to be *kitten* but we don't all get what we want ...

Good luck finding one?? LMAO my current doctor is fit, and jogs 30 miles a week, and the two doctors I saw when I visited Idaho (male and female), were thin and healthy. All the nurses were at normal weights as well. Ignoring you now. Bye! :sick:

rickyd88

I don't see how you can work in the medical field, and be obese/overweight. That has always bugged me. How are you going to tell others they need to eat less junk, when you're eating horrible things yourself? And none of that ''I work long hours'' crap. There's something called calorie control.

I'm a nurse. Not a dietician. I've never once told a patient to lose weight. My job is to love and support people unconditionally in their weakest moments. My job is to save lives whatever condition they're in without prejudice or judgment. Not even considering that I'm a nurse, if I was employing a nurse it would be more important to me that they were ****-hot in knowledge and skills, not that they can bench press 200kgs and had a bmi of 25. I'll tell you something though - I might be overweight but I know a few of my 150lb friends couldn't shift a 500lb patient like I can.

I don't care, I would still want my doctor/nurse to be a role model, and be fit and healthy.

Good luck finding one.

I don't like my patients to be *kitten* but we don't all get what we want ...

Good luck finding one?? LMAO my current doctor is fit, and jogs 30 miles a week, and the two doctors I saw when I visited Idaho (male and female), were thin and healthy. All the nurses were at normal weights as well. Ignoring you now. Bye! :sick:

You assume that because someone is thin that then are healthy? That jogging 30 miles a week makes them fit? That's ridiculous. You don't know if they have high cholesterol, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, if they smoke. You don't know them any better than you know any or the millions of nurses around the world. I'm "fat" but otherwise text book healthy with no medical conditions. So carry on being ignorant ....

born2drum

haha, nope! but nurses take care of each other while they take care of everyone else.

Then why are they overweight?

born2drum

I'm a nurse, and I'm not obese. However, I used to be, long before I was ever a nurse. The reason why some nurses are obese? The same reason most of America is obese. Although, it's even harder for nurses, because we work crazy hourse, we're sleep deprived, which I've read leads to overeating. We often have to skip lunches and breaks, because we're too busy, then by the time we get to eat, we're starving to death, and will eat whatever we can get our hands on fast enough. We have people bringing junk, treats, snacks, and fast food on the unit constantly. All to take care of other people's loved ones.

Ourfirm gets a ton of junk food at least 3 days out of the week. I walk in, find something that fits and eat it. Just like anywhere, there are a ton of fat people working behind a desk. Why, these people walk into the break room and it's like they have this "FREE FOOD SWITCH" that automatically entitles them to eat as much as they can. It's quite funny, really. They grab the snacks and take it back to their desk and then come back for more and no wonder their fat. Nurses are no special beings. And yes, law firms are stressful too. Not as much as working the ER but pretty close in terms of the legal mess you can get yourself into (perjury, sanctions) etc.

Mobilemuscle

Bottom line:

If you want to be in shape, you will be in shape regardless of your career choice.

born2drum

First off I have been an RN for 22 years and am very proud of the job I do! I can tell you honestly, that 96 to 97% of my patients not only like, but respect me, no matter what size my body happens to be. I have a reputation for 'taming the beasts' and if there is a patient who is unhappy, unable to be civil, throwing things at people, refusing to do what the doctor has ordered, 'firing' certain nurses, I invariably end up with those patients. By the end of my shift, there is always improvement!

Do I justify my weight because of my profession? Absolutely not!!! Before I lost the weight I have lost, I would approach my diabetic patients, or morbidly obese patients with nutrition teaching. This would include the fact that being obese, I knew the risks and had some of the co morbidities that occur with obesity, but that I wanted them to learn from me how to be healthier and avoid the complications of being obese.

Did I at times feel hypocritical, giving advice I clearly wasn't following? I look at it this way. In my nursing career, I have been heavier and thinner, obese and overweight. It has not hampered my ability to care for my patients and they would listen to me 'despite my weight', because they knew I cared about them! They knew that when the call light rang, I would be there taking care of them. They knew I would do everything within my ability to make their night better than their day was. They knew I would go above and beyond. They knew their care was my concern the 13 hours I was there. They knew and still know that I am their advocate!!

Now, I still am overweight and working on that. People I work with, patients I take care of call me skinny. I am not or ever will be skinny, but this shows in general how warped our sense of body image and what is 'normal' has become in our society!! I tell them that since March I have lost 61 pounds. When they ask how I could do that, I tell them!! I give them the same information I have always given my patients. Thing is, some will listen, most will not, no matter what size I am when I give them the information. Do I feel even better 'practicing what I preach'?? Of course, as do most people who have been obese and now are not!

The reason for that? We are all, every one of us, human. We all have things that are personal stressors, a lot of us work, many of us care for others. We know when the 'right' time is to make a healthy lifestyle a priority. Until then, it is just words.

As far as nutrition education, I took one nutrition course prior to nursing school as a prerequisite to enter the program. There are no more overweight/obese nurses, aides, techs, radiology techs, pharmacists, pharmacy techs, doctors, physical therapists, ambulance crews, that are overweight or obese, then there are bankers, teachers, lawyers or bartenders. We are all just human, learning as we go, trying to do the best we can. Again, it's called being human!

In my honest opinion, it's a small minded person, that would refuse treatment by someone who is capable and competent due only to the size of their body. I hope that overweight person would not be the only one there if they were in a car accident or having a heart attack, an asthma attack, victim of a mugging, etc.

Nuff said. I really don't want to waste the time trying to convince those who judge our profession as a whole and not by individual performance, as we save lives, and help others end theirs with dignity, on a daily basis!! That is what is important! Not the size of our body!!

SUnnie RN I wish more people in general were half as smart as you. I hope you find your weight loss journey as pleasurable as your helping and treating others :flowerforyou:

Keep up the great work. You can be skinny, if you put your mind to it but no one wants to be skinny. We want to be fit hehe

Laces_0ut

Exactly. There's a certain poster in here who 'doesn't want a fat nurse'. That's cool because when he drops on the floor and has a cardiac arrest at the gym I will decide I don't like skinny patients and I will walk away ...

only an evil person would walk away from someone in need. i hope you consider a career change. the world doesnt need health care givers who withhold care based on their patients beliefs.

hedgiie

they spend time looking after someone rather than looking after themselves.

vtmoon

I don't see how you can work in the medical field, and be obese/overweight. That has always bugged me. How are you going to tell others they need to eat less junk, when you're eating horrible things yourself? And none of that ''I work long hours'' crap. There's something called calorie control.

I'm a nurse. Not a dietician. I've never once told a patient to lose weight. My job is to love and support people unconditionally in their weakest moments. My job is to save lives whatever condition they're in without prejudice or judgment. Not even considering that I'm a nurse, if I was employing a nurse it would be more important to me that they were ****-hot in knowledge and skills, not that they can bench press 200kgs and had a bmi of 25. I'll tell you something though - I might be overweight but I know a few of my 150lb friends couldn't shift a 500lb patient like I can.

I don't care, I would still want my doctor/nurse to be a role model, and be fit and healthy.

Good luck finding one.

I don't like my patients to be *kitten* but we don't all get what we want ...

Good luck finding one?? LMAO my current doctor is fit, and jogs 30 miles a week, and the two doctors I saw when I visited Idaho (male and female), were thin and healthy. All the nurses were at normal weights as well. Ignoring you now. Bye! :sick:

I miss the days when I was young and knew everything! Whatever you do, don't grow up because you start to understand and realize how little we really know. :bigsmile:


My neighbor two doors down just ran his 7th marathon in Chicago and has an amazing 6 pack going on. His doctor gave him until some time next year to live due to Melanoma. :frown:

Derpes

More excuses. I never said they couldn't give their honest opinion, but they should live by what they teach. If you're going to spend money on school, and energy on your job, you should live by them. I get that people don't have the time to cook a healthy dinner, but that doesn't mean you should pig out on big macs and giant fries, everyday. You can get a grilled chicken salad from the same place, without dressing.

I also don't get how they work long tired hours, yet claim they don't have much time to eat, yet are still able to pack down more than 2000 calories a day. Why don't they pack away fruit if they need a quick snack? Why do they need a snickers bar? It doesn't add up.

What excuses? That knowledge doesn't translate to living it?

We're all supposed to maintain a healthy weight. That's something we "should" all do. Nurses aren't at an increased moral obligation. I'm not willing to pay my nurses a salary to cover 24/7, so their lifestyles really shouldn't be our concern. I don't need my nurse to look perfect. I need her to be good at inserting an IV, have a nice bedside manner, and to be alert to what is going on with my body while she's taking care of me. As long as his/her weight doesn't get in the way of that, it's not my business, any more than any other professional's.

Maybe YOU don't need your nurse to, but I will never get advise from an overweight/obese doctor/nurse, if they can't even practice self control.

Also someone doesn't have to be ''active'' in order to be skinny/healthy weight. It's called calories.

Your argument fails on many levels; firstly, you are taking an entire field of many disciplines (cardiology, neurology, psychiatry, pulmonary, etc) and you are appraising the workers through a very narrow scope.

It seems like a frivolous argument to make given the intellectual rigors of working in the aforementioned field and sub-fields.