nurse is lightly active, really??!

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fmramey
fmramey Posts: 18 Member
in Introduce Yourself
First let me say that I have always been a hard worker. I threw freight and checked groceries for a local grocery chain, walked miles per day in a Safety job, and I have been a nurse for the past 21 years. Nursing is by far the most difficult job on physical, mental and emotional balance. Yes, I used to throw cases of canned goods and soap of up too 24 pounds and dog food bags of up to 50 lbs. Now, I roll, and support adult patients, most of whom are more than two hundred pounds. When I worked on an acute pt care floor I walked apprx 6 miles each 12-hour shift at a good pace. In critical care I exchanged about four miles per shift in walking for increased lifting and pulling.
I think that profiling nurses as light activity members is ill-informed. I agree that waitressing is moderate activity and, having done waitressing myself also I feel pretty confident that MYFIT..... can safely classify nurses right along with waitresses in activity level, and probably should consider nurses to be more active. I don't know of many waitresses who sustain a high level of physical activity for 12 hours at a time.

Replies

  • Rae6503
    Rae6503 Posts: 6,294 Member
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    Then pick the next level. Just pick whatever works for you. I have a desk job but still have lightly active selected because I do a lot at home, walk a lot (and don't log it), etc. I selected it, tried it for a while, saw that it works and left it there. MFP doesn't know everything. It's a free site after all.
  • fmramey
    fmramey Posts: 18 Member
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    P.S. Nurses often eat for energy just to keep going for the whole shift. It is easy to 'overdo' because snacks have to be taken on the run and need to provide high energy. We eat what we are hungry for, which is carbs and they need to be handy........ muffins, to-go foods....(:
  • cheri03
    cheri03 Posts: 172 Member
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    I have seen it as moderate most of the time but to be honest, most nurses are overweight, so many are not doing too much (coming from a nurse of 22 yrs here).
  • dittiepe
    dittiepe Posts: 557 Member
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    I have seen it as moderate most of the time but to be honest, most nurses are overweight, so many are not doing too much (coming from a nurse of 22 yrs here).

    Mostly from people bringing in junk food. LOL
  • taubkelly
    taubkelly Posts: 2
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    I am a home health nurse and way too sedentary...Just find your level...
  • abby459
    abby459 Posts: 748 Member
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    I am a nurse too and though also thought that was crazy...I work 12 hour shifts in an ER and I never sit down. I changed mine setting to up one level.
  • kunfused
    kunfused Posts: 13
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    As with any category, it really depends on the person. I have worked in rest homes where the nurses never left their chair. It is just another label. One size does not fit all. These are just general guidelines. A heart rate monitor would give you a better idea of what your body is doing.
  • sweebum
    sweebum Posts: 1,060 Member
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    Both my mom and my sister are nurses. My mom worked in an old age home and all of the nurses there were overweight. My sister works at a hospital with rounds, and logs 14,000 steps a day- so she's pretty active :smile:

    Throw a pedometer on for the day and see where you're at.
  • taubkelly
    taubkelly Posts: 2
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    Hi..New...60 pounds have crept on me over the past 3 years...I am still a size 12-14 so keep fooling myself...Home health nurse with a gym membership and ride bike.
  • Heatherbelle_87
    Heatherbelle_87 Posts: 1,078 Member
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    Honestly it depends on your work setting, The ER nurses I worked with are a heck of alot more active then a small practice nurse that only has 1-4 patients per hour that he/she never has to roll or lift. So no its not offensive to nurses to list you as lightly active because some nurses are almost sedentary! There are even nurses who work in call centers they are still technically a nurse but have a desk job.
  • Starlage
    Starlage Posts: 1,709 Member
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    I'm pretty sure they're just saying that you're 'lightly active' if most of your workday is spent up walking around. hence the nursing comparison. I'm pretty sure they're not generalizing nursing as easy and light work.

    And I agree with putting on a pedometer and seeing where you're at. It'll give you an idea about whether to classify yourself as lightly active- i'd say like 8000-10,000 steps in a work day or higher if you're way above that (of course this is just my personal opinion, no MFP facts to back that up.) I'm a medical assistant in a busy surgical clinic so I'm up walking around 75% of my day usually so I consider that lightly active..... but i wasn't sure. So I decided to leave it at sedentary and wear a pedometer, so using an online calculator to estimate steps/miles walked into calories burned so that I have a more accurate estimation of calories. Sounds like more work than necessary, yeah- but I don't think so. I see it as trying to be more accurate.
  • Heatherbelle_87
    Heatherbelle_87 Posts: 1,078 Member
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    I have seen it as moderate most of the time but to be honest, most nurses are overweight, so many are not doing too much (coming from a nurse of 22 yrs here).

    Mostly from people bringing in junk food. LOL

    So true, being an ED patient access rep I ran ALOT (level 1 trauma center) but some days were hit or miss, working overnights we ate tons of high calorie cheap, fast to eat food (us and the nurses)
  • fmramey
    fmramey Posts: 18 Member
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    I think MFP and message board members appreciate feedback though. When Nurses are audited by time management consultants we are consistently rated at a higher level of activity and productivity than we are classified (paid) for. Most of understanding health and worth is having the correct perspective. Most nurses work in acute care at the bedside and it is safe to draw the conclusion that most nurses do not sustain the same level of physical activity that a clinic nurse or a home health nurse would. Profiling correctly is important so that members understand the 'buy in'. They recognize that the program that they are following has done a certain amount of work ( fitness assessments, etc) for them and that the information that they rely on is correct. I am please overall with MFP and, yes, I am self aware enough to not consider myself a 'light activity' person and I had already adjusted my activity level classification.
  • fmramey
    fmramey Posts: 18 Member
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    You go girl!!:happy:
  • fmramey
    fmramey Posts: 18 Member
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    Pedometer done twenty years ago! A mile is still a mile even after so much time. Nursing is far from easy and light. I really hope that MFP didn't intend to imply that. I really just think that they are not informed.
  • Tiggerrick
    Tiggerrick Posts: 1,078 Member
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    Yea, yea, yea. I saw that too when I was setting my profile. I left the profile at SEDENTARY even though I am an active nurse. That way, I don't over-estimate caloric need. I'd rather set up the system as under and add work out calories. There are days that are light, others heavy. Sometimes all your patients are in one room, others you are spread out throughout the entire floor. Add the walking time to your "sedentary" set up, and you'll be closer to actual caloric use.
  • fmramey
    fmramey Posts: 18 Member
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    "Clever"

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