As a nursing student, I worked on a step down cardiac unit. We primarily took care of people that had cardiac bypass surgery. I worked with great people. They taught me so much! I learned everything from the importance of chest percussions on a new postop patient to reading telemetry (heart monitors) to taking care of chest tubes and assisting during codes. My mind was challenged and I was in heaven. But….there was one thing that dumbfounded me…how was it that they extremely intelligent people did not practice what they preached?
I distinctly remember nurses doing discharge classes on the lifestyle changes the patients were going to have to start doing now that they had bypass surgery (always thought that was a little backwards). Then, when the nurse would go on break he or she would grab their soda, cigarettes and donut (um, this is no joke) and head outside for a little fresh air. I would observe this in awe and could not wrap my head around what I watched over and over.
Now, don’t get me wrong…I was by far the picture of health at that time. I was in college, working 30 hrs a week on the unit, not working out, living off of 3 hrs of sleep a night and was 25 lbs overweight. I always tried my best to eat healthy…but frequently got it wrong. And sitting in the telemetry room watching 16 cardiac monitors for 8 hrs did not help the cause. Since it was a separate room attached to the nursing station it is where everyone brought in food. When I think back I cannot remember a single fruit or veggie that walked in there…but boy do I remember the homemade truffles the size of my fist!
Have you ever been in the hospital or clinic and taken care of by a staff member that you think need an ER visit themselves? What do you think when you see medical staff smoking, eating fast food or just appearing to not take care of themselves?
You are right about the nurses and doctors being over weight, smoking, drinking soft drinks and eating donuts. I have a PA who is over weight, the nices person you want to meet, but I think she has a double standand. When I see a medical person light a cigarette I wonder what they have told their patiences who have had a heart attach and what they think. I guess it’s the old saying, “DO AS I SAY, NOT AS I DO”.
I try to be as healthy as I can, but I’m like others who faulter, but I continue to do what needs to be done to stay as healthy as possible, especially since my daughter is a health nut and she is giving her father and I “ADVISE” on how to stay healthy. We know that she is doing it out of love for us and we appreciate it.
When I see overweight nurses, it looks like to me they don’t really have an understanding of their job and the whole picture. But nurses or not, they are unfortunately just the representation of the unhealthy American society that have been brought up eating and drinking junk food. it’s funny you mentioned that because it’s one of the things that shocked me when I first went to a US medical office.This is why healthy eating habits needs to be taught at US school. The culture has to change and it looks like it might have started. As long as junk food will be cheaper and more accessible that healthy choices, you will still see overweight people and especially medical people that don’t have the time/effort to eat healthy.
I am sure it had to be a culture shock coming from France, Marie. I lived in Europe for 7 1/2 years and every time I came back to the US it was a notable difference between the average size of Europeans and Americans. However, as more fast food is introduced to other countries they are starting to see the same health problems as the United States. I hope through this blog we can educate and support each other on healthy lifestyle changes.
This is a great conversation to have. I too, have witnessed this in my nursing career. It isn’t unusual for caregivers to fall short when it comes to taking care of themselves. Burnout, long shifts, poor nutrition, stress, all contribute to this. I remember countless night shifts where if you happen to have forgotten your lunch, the only alternative in the cafeteria were the usual suspects. Grilled cheese, salty soup, french fries (always popular) and of course tons of sweets! Wash it all down with coffee… There are definetely mixed message being sent and received in health care today. We want our patients to be healthy and make lifestyle changes, yet there are some that continue to lead a less than healthful lifestyle.
The culture needs to change on all levels from the top down. I currently work for a non-profit health plan and we are constantly working to promote the idea of a healthy life within our company. This needs to encompass all aspects of one’s life, not just nutrition. Keeping a healthy work/life balance is important, exercise, stress management, peer support, behavioral health etc… Not everyone in the company has a normal BMI, but we all work together as a unit to promote the concept of a healthy life. Sure, I see employees taking smoke breaks and coming to work with bags of fast food and a lot of these people are overweight. But, my part is to try and educate in a way that gets people to respond not to shut down. Bringing fresh produce into the workplace instead of donuts, is a place to start. Starting a recipe circle of healthy recipes to share with co-workers, is another way we have begun to change the culture in our workplace. We having walking challenges where employees are giving pedometers and steps are recorded and prizes are awarded (non food prizes!). We also have a community garden where we grow about 1,000 pounds of food per year. We donate a lot of this to the local food bank, but employees are allowed to take whatever fresh produce they want. You never know who you may end up pulling weeds with, the CEO! I work with the most healthy nurses I have ever worked with in my career. We may not all have a normal BMI, but we are all aware of the importance of living a healthy life and we support each other.
As a health coach in a disease management program, I talk with members about their chronic health conditions. I help them to understand how to take small steps to improve their health and that eventually this will add up to huge changes for the better. A lot of these people have spent years on the weight roller coaster, smoke, do not exercise, and have lost all hope that they can turn their health around. I think they are so demoralized by past failures and negative perceptions that they have given up. It’s not as if they don’t know they have diabetes, they do know, it’s just overwhelming. Change must come from within. It helps if there are outside positive forces, but at the end of the day we all must choose for ourselves. For a person to make changes that will forever benefit their health, they must first realize how important it is to change and how confident they are that they can make that change.
Maybe someday, becasue of blogs like this one, I can work with people before they end up with a chronic health condition and not when they are in such a bad place. Let’s keep the positive energy, compassion, and understanding flowing. Let’s make a change!!!
Kristi, wow…talk about speaking from the heart. That was beautifully written. I think there are a lot of people that can relate to what you just stated. Yes, yes, yes…many become paralyzed by their fear of change. However, having someone that can break it down into baby steps builds their confidence. Hmmmm….that brings on another blog topic…