Our country is battling obesity and the profession of nursing is not immune. You can walk into any hospital and notice this fact. Nurses are teachers and role models in our communities and while at work, we often take advantage of “teachable moments” with our patients. A clinically obese nurse on medication for diabetes and hypertension is going to have a difficult time getting through to their post-MI patient with education on diet and exercise.
One of my favorite examples of inspiration in the medical field was from several years ago, Dr Nicholas Yphantides was extremely overweight at 467 pounds and teaching his patients “do as I say and not as I do” and feeling badly about it. So, he kicked his life into gear and lost over 250 pounds without the help of surgery or medications….and has kept it off. He can now teach his patients to “do as I say AND as I do”.
Or, back in March, when Methodist Healthcare System in Texas encouraged it’s employees to be more health with a “100 Day Live Healthy Challenge” where employees form teams and compete on the amount of aerobic activity per week or weight lost. If every hospital developed a program like this, especially with incentives, I think our workplaces would be quite a bit healthier. Maybe we’d stop seeing boxes of Krispy Kreme or oversized bagels and cream cheese sitting in the nurses’ lounge?
At the last nursing conference I attended in Las Vegas, the brochure said that the price of the conference included a “continental breakfast and lunch” each day. So, we show up at 7am and see this picture… trays of danishes. No fruit, no granola bars, nothing else. Oh, and they had coffee… but no juice, no cold water. Outta luck for this girl who doesn’t like coffee and is trying to eat healthy. From doing some research, one of these small pastries has about 150 calories and 8 grams of fat… and many nurses had 2 or 3 of them on their plate as it was the only thing to sustain us until lunch was served at 12:30pm. I would hope that nursing conferences would be a place to start for a healthy change in our profession.
Though I do not spend a lot of time in hospitals (thankfully), I do not really categorize a ‘nurse’ as someone that I would look to as an example of good health or fitness, at least not any more than I would categorize a politician as ‘honest’ or a police officer as someone whom ‘never breaks the law’.
It would seem these should be synonymous but clearly they are not. My mental image of nurses always plays back to the group of chain-smokers congregating outside the entrance or an unmarked doorway of the building.
I think you’re right though, they should go hand-in-hand, it should be promoted on a wider scale because at this point, clearly nothing but video games and the internet has our attention and obesity in America is definitely out of control. Healthy alternatives should always be available in such situations (all situations).
The difficulty is convincing a union worker they “need” to get in shape or choose the apple instead of the danish, without causing a pandemic.
Paul, I do believe our country is in a pandemic. Obesity has become infectious as unhealthy foods become the norm and exercise becomes obsolete (hey, why would I walk up that flight of stairs when there’s a perfectly good elevator?) As more of the country has become overweight, it becomes okay to society. It’s hard to motivate change in a community where the majority of people are obese.
I do think you’re right that many in the country would not categorize a nurse as someone that is an example of health or fitness, and I believe many nurses feel the same way. But, that’s what I would love to see changed. I do tell my patients on a near-daily basis about the importance of leading a healthy lifestyle; no smoking, cardiac diet (low fat, low cholesterol, low sodium), and exercise. I think that message is deeply lost from a nurse who weighs over 300 pounds and reeks of cigarette smoke.
It seems we are a victim of circumstance… we lead such busy lives that traditional dinner-table dining seems more out of the norm than grabbing a quick bite at ‘the corner’. Even though the storyline was slightly embellished, a reality similar to that of Wall-E (completely dependent upon technology) is a great analogy of the direction that our future appears to be heading.
I believe we are doomed to this path unless someone stands up and demands change… someone needs to tell the Emperor that his New Clothes are 2 sizes too small.
Amy, I couldn’t agree with you more. I think teachers and nurses / doctors are huge role models for our children. If they are overweight then the kids won’t think anything about being overweight themselves. All children look up to their doctor or teacher. I remember wanting to be a teacher when I was young because my teacher was beautiful, tall and skinny.
Maybe it’s time for the government to revamp the clinics cafeteria like they did to our schools?!!