Unhealthy people working in the healthcare field

Sorry but all I hear are excuses for being overweight. I'd bet a pretty penny that most overweight medical staff had weight issues before they started working in the medical field and continue down the same path. There are ZERO excuses for eating junk. Plan your meals ahead, time is not an excuse FIND TIME! Period, end of story! Point has already been made, would you pay a personal trainer who is fat? NO! So why take healthy advise from an overweight nurse or doctor? Problem with the current society is people don't want to hear the truth. If you're obese then you're obese, it's not like people don't notice. No one is saying you being fat prevents you from relaying information read from a book about how to be healthy. The problem is you giving advise that you don't adhere to, plain and simple.

To the ones complaining about people being judgmental. You yourself are/have been judgmental to others in some way shape or form before so get off your high horse! You only have a problem with profiling now because it involves YOU!

I tell people this all the time, if you think you are incapable of doing your job and taking good care of yourself then find another profession. If your work place violates your employment rights then report them. Until then you are doing nothing but making an excuse.

If and when you work as a nurse, then you can say this.You have no idea how stressful it is in the healthcare industry. Some floor nurses have a 6 to 1 ratio, and there are times when breaks are IMPOSSIBLE. Patient safety and care come first our breaks are secondary. You can't plan around patients coding or having low blood sugar etc.....Yeah next time I have a patient that has low blood sugar at my breaktime, I will take my break first then deal with their blood sugar, that is if they aren't in a diabetic coma.

There are ZERO excuses for eating junk. Plan your meals ahead, time is not an excuse FIND TIME! Period, end of story!

I hope that one day, in your time of need, a nurse takes her lunch break and leaves you to fend for yourself. Let us know how that works out for you. Oh, let me guess..YOU are perfect and will never need a nurse, right?

I don't know why this thread got so focused on nurses specifically because I never said anything about that... I work with nurses, STNAs, therapists, social workers, etc. and like I've already stated I think they are all wonderful people who provide excellent care for our residents.

Unfortunately your original post does paint a rather unique 'picture' of what you stated. Here is a segment of your OP:

However, I'm currently a dietetic intern at a nursing home. Nearly every resident has some sort of nutrition related diagnoses - hypertension, type 2 diabetes, hyperlipidemia, osteoarthrosis, GERD, IBS, sleep apnea, heart disease, etc. Of course they are all on a million different medications as well. My question is, when you are working around patients/residents who have these conditions and you can clearly see the impact of a poor diet in so many different manifestations, why wouldn't you be doing something to take control of your own health so you can avoid those things in the future? We were sitting in a meeting at 9am the other morning and I noticed an employee eating a candy bar and a bag of Doritos. At lunch a lot of people eat salads with bacon, cheese, creamy dressing, etc. Are they just oblivious or are they under the impression that "it's not going to happen to them"? A lot of the employees are very overweight as well. Why do I see so many unhealthy choices being made?

1.) You are currently a dietetic intern at a nursing home. In all honesty, where you havent mentioned how long you are interning or whether or not you did healthcare prior to going into dietetics, "Intern" is someone who is either still in school learning, or they are fresh out of school and acclimating to a new job to obtain the necessary hours to go from intern to fully established. In my mind, you havent seen the true full scope of all specialties - you are only in a nursing home that has specialty-physicans who come in on designated days, or perhaps have regular schedules there.. You really dont have a full grasp of knowing what an ER MD or RN, or any clinical person's schedule is like on good days or bad days.

Your position does not involve in anyway shape or form, to have to get involved when a patient 'crashes', when a patient goes in for either minor or major surgery, or when a patient slips and falls, youre not in a position that gets involved in that. In fact, dieticians dont get involved in any sort of physical-related patient care - its not in their job description. Thats just the facts.

Out of 17 years, I spent 6 years doing a lateral clinical position working in direct patient care, obtained a certification in Medical Assisting for Provider based care, obtained my LNA for direct-patient care for both nursing home, assisted living, home-health-hospice with subspecialties. Ive worked along side some amazing RN's and MD's of all sizes and shapes... We are on our feet almost 90% of the time during normal shifts. Normal meaning, no catastrophic situations arising.... when hell broke loose, we are on our feet 100% of the time. Its basic survival for us while we fought for those who we were trying to help keep alive, administer care, and hope they make it to the next 'rounds'.

In that time frame, if we could get a cup of coffee in us it would be a flipping miracle! I worked for a surgeon who bought us all dinner one night on a night that we thought was going really smooth, and then all hell broke loose. We went straight 8 hours of incoming trauma calls just to stabilize our patients. That dinner was put away by one of our secretaries so it wouldnt go bad.... We didnt eat that until just about shift change.

When you are in environments like hospitals, nursing homes, assisted living facilities, etc where chaos enfolds at a second's notice, eating healthy gets thrown out the window because the priorities lie within the patient's need.

Dieticians never ever get involved in that type of environment where they initiate direct care, ergo you dont understand 'the other side'. Especially "interns"....

What you 'see' in documentation is based on the patient's current health data and what was documented for the patient to either adhere or restrict their food-related needs
.
What an RN or MD sees (or any clinic-based clinician), are the results of the health data, the current care plan that is about to be created, the referrals that will need to be made, the decision making necessary to determine if meds are due, surgery is needed and/or if the next of kin needs to be contacted for terminal-related decision making. They are focusing on the patient's health as the top priority.

We healthcare providers (the ones who do full patient care, surgery, clinical analysis, etc) know full well what we should be doing but when the patient's health warrants our undivided attention - that one shred of focus lost because "OH MY GAWD, Im on the same road as HE is!"...we lose focus on the patient's care thus a potential to increase the risk of injury to the patient, unversal precautions might be unintentionally ignored, we forget to apply the "5 R's" of patient care, and worse, lose focus on the patient's immediate needs and potentially losing them to death because we got emotionally dettached from the patient but overwhelmed on our own issues.

Im sorry but Im going to side with the RN's, LNA's, Clinicians, Therapists and especially the administrative staff - unless you have the ability to leave your Dietician Intern position for one shift (just one) and be left with no choice but to go hours and hours with out eating a meal and scrambling for a bag of chips or that slice of pizza, without consuming water, and have no sleep because a major healthcare situation requires everyone's attention, you just dont have the right to pass judgement without fully knowing what its like to be in their shoes.

You are too new in your position (you are an Intern afterall) - you havent seen it all yet. I would like to encourage you to ask during your internship to job-shadow in an ER for a few shifts, if they allow it. Go to a hospital that specializes in Trauma, High Risk Surgeries, etc..... you wont be so quick to jump and think we healthcare providers dont care about our own health. Our jobs put others first ...

By the way - bacon, cheese, creamy dressing.

September 2011, I dropped breads, rice, corn, pasta, flour completely from my intake.

I had myself plenty of home-cured bacon, cheese and homemade creamy dressings...

My total cholesterol in a four month span went from 252 DOWN to 117, my A1C went from 11.2 DOWN to 5.2 and that my friend, made my Endocrinologist extremely impressed.

And many of my patients at work have done the same and have lost plenty of weight, and have numbers like mine on their labs as well.



And that.... is all she wrote!

I like what you wrote, since I just started Atkins. Tired of the cravings bread products trigger and hoping it will help my allergies/breathing woes.

So I know your not trying to be judgmental about unhealthy people working in the health field, but did you even realize how that was going to come off to people who have the illnesses you listed. I have never in my life blamed IBS on my diet, because its creation is in no way related. Half the time attacks are not even related to what I am eating. Maybe, since he is a professional, he knows that and doesn't view it the way that you do.

People with IBS have a horrendous time with diets. For me personally I can only drink whole organic milk and white bread. I cant eat fish. Most fruits and vegetables make me ill. Orange juice is completely out of the question. Stress affects it. Drastic temperature changes affect it. Smells affect it. The medications make you gain weight because they assume you are losing so much being ill.

I have a heard time taking advice from people who do not understand what having this issue is like and how it affects you life.

What upsets me about your post, is that it reads like you are saying it is the fault of the patients that they are sick. I was a competitive gymnast when I was diagnosed as a child. My diet was in no way bad and I was very healthy. It is not my fault that I am sick.

I understand your frustration with people in the health industry who do not take care of themselves as they should (i.e. nurses and doctors who smoke). I just dont think you meant it as it came across. People are very touchy about their illnesses. I hope this doesnt come off like I am attacking you. I just wanted to make you aware of how it sounded and explain why it got a negative reaction from me.

Everyones gotta have an excuse for being fat. I have a close friend with IBS, she has been through hell with it and weights 130 lbs. She takes responsibility for her illness and her own actions.

I don't understand "She take responsibility for her illness" How do you take responsibility for IBS when it can strike at anytime relating to food or not. I can wake up at 4am and have an episode untill 12pm not eat anything. It does not matter what you eat with IBS it can hurt you at any time.

That and I am not using it as an excuse for being fat... what I am saying is that I was healthy when diagnosed so unhealthy eating didnt CAUSE my illness. Good for your friend with IBS. It is awesome that she has it under control (whatever that means). I know many thin people with IBS... I am overweight (the term fat is kind of rude) because I am less than active, I like large portions of food and I didnt really care to change it... but I should also tell you, you can never compare one case of IBS to another... they are all their own... it isnt like other illnesses or allergies where everyone reacts the same. We all have different things we cant eat or be around and when we eat them we all react differently. I know people with much worse cases than myself. The only thing I really blame on my illness is my occasional inability to go somewhere and turning down certain foods offered by others.

I got *****ed out before because I was trying to make this exact point on a different forum months ago... This poor lady, went to the doctor, and a very overweight nurse was telling her about watching her diet... That she was overweight... It kinda irritated the lady/patient because the nurse, should take her own dang advise. Whats good for the goose, is good for the gander.. Is that what they say? I worked in a long term care facility for a SHORT time, and it seemed that the other heathcare workers were not setting a good example either. Im sure there are many that do set a great example, and take good care of themselves.. Just the percentage is lower than we should expect. Thanks for reinforcing this theory. Cause I believe this too.

Sometimes people care more about others than themselves.

I am also getting my nutrition together, as I would LOVE to work in health promotion or become a nutritionist and I believe in practicing what I preach!

There are ZERO excuses for eating junk. Plan your meals ahead, time is not an excuse FIND TIME! Period, end of story!

I hope that one day, in your time of need, a nurse takes her lunch break and leaves you to fend for yourself. Let us know how that works out for you. Oh, let me guess..YOU are perfect and will never need a nurse, right?

while i half heartedly agree with your statement that you should plan ahead regarding your meals, i completely disagree with your statement of FIND TIME!!!! mostly due to the other statement i have quoted here.

when you work a 9-5 job, or a desk job or one where you're home by 3p each day, it's probably relatively easy to plan out your meals, or get something healthy at the cafeteria or local venue.

when you work shift work, it's not all that uncommon for you to SKIP meals entirely! you could be running like a crazy person and work right through the typical cafeteria hours. hospital workers are not allowed more than 30 min to eat, and that means you are NOT LEAVING to go get lunch. and if you work 7a to 7p that means you got to work at 645 at the latest, had to change your clothes, scrub, and get report. if you live close to your job you might have had a chance to grab breakfast, or something to go as you left the house. but, you won't be able to stop in 3 hrs to make sure you grab that apple or carrots or hard boiled egg. and there is little to no guarantee that you'll get lunch 6 hrs after you got to work!!!

so, assuming you get your 30 min for lunch at 2p. and you're now starving because you haven't had much besides coffee and a protein bar at 6a, you can scarf down your lunch, and perhaps even pick at the tray that the drug reps have brought in to woo the docs to using THIER drugs...... then you work 5 more hours.

so, now, it's 7p, you still have to give report, hopefully your nurse relieving you is ON TIME. after that you have to go change and then head home. again, if you're lucky, you live close to work. some of my jobs were a ONE HOUR drive each way. so, now it's about 830 and you're trying to eat something for dinner. and exhausted. and HOPEFULLY the next day is your day off!!!

and night shift is even WORSE! you sleep all day long getting read for your 12 hrs. maybe even sleep through dinner. you get to work at 630/645p, get changed, get report and go to work. you might get to grab a snack at some point, but a 30 min break for "lunch" is not that common on night shift. they do a lot of work that is easier to do when patients are sleeping and families aren't visiting. you live on sugar and caffeine to keep you awake and hyped up. especially if you work with any kind of high acuity patients ( like ER or ICU). often the cafeterias don't open at all and if they do, it's for like 1.5 hrs and never when you can run down. so, you rely on vending machines, or snacks you bring from home. or stuff others have left during the day, or that same tray the drug rep left earlier. then again, you hope your relief comes ON TIME, give report, change and head home.

sometimes you literally fall into bed!!! other times you are wired from a really intense shift. either way, you rarely ever get 8 solid hours of sleep. and if you're lucky the next day is your day off.

and then you get to apply that to either every other weekend, or every third weekend!!!!!

you bring your job home with you A LOT. you worry constantly about things you could have done better or if you missed something. the stress in some nursing jobs is INSANE!!!!! i worked peds onc and i dealt with more kids dying than i ever imagined i would in my LIFETIME. THAT is stressful!!!!!!!! telling families that they're baby is not going to make it and they better drive as fast as humanily possible to hold their son or daughter one last time before he/ she dies, is INSANELY STRESSFUL!!!!!!!!!! have you ever had to make a call like that at 3a??? to a family that was an hour or more drive away? with a baby that probably had 1-2 hours to live????

have you ever had to tell a mom that her baby was too unstable to be held at that moment, but maybe tomorrow would be better? only to have that baby die over night????? have you ever coded a 3 yr old little boy in front of his parents? and then have to console them when he died? have you ever had to tell a single mom of 2 kids that her 2 yr old daughter's brain has herniated and she is brain dead and therefore needs to have life support removed??? have you ever been called a KILLER!?!?!?!

many nurses give up worrying about themselves because they are sooooo worried about their patients and their patients' families!

I also have to add....I don't work three days a week, ten to twelve hour days. I work five days a week, ten to twelve hours a day. Anyone want to come cook healthy for me?