Where are the Nurses?

Hi All,

I am an RN and I have always thought that many nurses have a tendency to be overweight and was wondering if there were any nurses on the board that have had WLS or are planning on having it? I've already met one on the Calif. board so far.

Roll call - Where are you Nurses?

I am a LVN, so depending on your views I am a nurse (I think I am) I cant say me being overweight had anything to do with nursing though. For me it started WAY before I became a nurse. I have already had WLS. Welcome to the Cali Board

Hi Nikki,

Of course you are a nurse. One of the only major differences between a RN and a LVN is the pay.

I have have always been overweight and I don't think that nursing made me fat but I think that they type of personality I have is,  just like Joyce said that we tend to nurture others before nurturing ourselves.

Thanks for the welcome Nikki!

Laura

I'm an RN (neonatal).  I think you're right.  I'm on night shift and a great deal of us are overweight.  I think part of it comes from taking care of others before ourselves.  I've always been that way.  I'm trying to do a reversal and take care of me now.  It's about time!  Being on night shift adds about 20 lbs according to statistics.

Nikki... LVN's are nurses... so that makes you one!!!

I worked night shifts for 3 years when I was just starting out as a nurse and I did gain weight. The reason I think  is because we get tired and we eat to stay awake. I don't know about other hospitals but every hospital I've worked in all the nurses loved to eat. I have really fond memories of ordering Thai food, or pizza with my co-workers. I also specialized in labor and delivery and the patient's families would give us food as thank you gifts. There was always candy, cookies and sometimes full catered lunches for the nurses. The food was killing me - but what a way to go.

Laura

I couldn't agree with you more!  I wasn't overweight when I entered nursing school, but gained 50 lbs while there!  Graduated with a degree and an entry in my medical chart that would haunt me for the next 15 years...."morbidly obese".....

I think nursing contributes to our unhealthy lifestyle, long hours, sometimes no lunch or something quick...funny isn't it?  We are there  to help restore health and well meaning, grateful families ply us with doughouts, chocolate, cookies and cake!!  Not a piece of fruit in sight!!

Ha!  Funny what this thread has made me think of........my favorite snack when I was working in hospital ( I am an adminstrator now) was a ginger ale and graham crackers.  I would eat that everyday...along with the best butterscotch pudding ever made!  The hospital I worked at had some of the best cooks in it and my weight certainly showed it!!

I worked on the oncology unit and one of my favorite patients came every month for chemo.  The lady reminded me of my grandma and it turned out that her husband knew my father.  Well, that did it.  Each month, the husband would bring a sack of munchkins, or a some other treat.  While I was thrilled to see this family each month, I ate the doughnuts out of a sense of obligation.  "Well, they went all the way out of their way to get these...they shouldn't go to waste"....yeah..they went right to MY waist.....

I also think working a traditional swing shift does not help either.  When your schedule changes from days to 3-11 then nights it wreaks havoc with everything....

Great thread and a wonderful obeservation....................

OMG I can so relate to the unhealthy eatting.  I worked in the ER and my first day back to work i think I ate the most that day. I worked every friday and saturday night and then I would maybe pick up sunday 12 hour night shifts.  So I would eat breakfast friday morniing, lunch, and dinner.  Then on to work.  My boss usually on Friday would get us food for each shift from LA Lasagna OMG there was so much food.  So about 9pm I would eat some Lasagna salad and garlic bread and desert.  Then we would send out at about 3 in the morning for some kind of junk usually weiner Schnitzel. OF course someone always brought a big bag of MM's and we put them in an emesis basin and eat that.  Well it was time to make the hour drive home so I would stop at either Tommy's for Chili Cheese fries or Burger King for cheeseburber and fries.  I then would get home and have some butter (ok lots butter) with my english muffin. So from the time i got up to when I got home I would I ate at lest 8 times. Night shift killed me.  Almost literally.

Wow I am so glad that I am not the only one that had this issue. I was actually preparing for my WLS in LVN school and had lost 48 pounds (man some of them girls could eat). After taking my NCLEX and passing, I went right into QA and went down hill from there. Constant meetings, lunches with supervisors etc. Gaied all my weight back and then some.

Get breakfast on the way to work (usually Jack in the Box) and chinese or big burger for lunch and then dinner and of course QA being mostly a desk job, no excercise........Glad those days are over.

Have a great day........Rick