Without getting into great detail, I am a professor in a facility that also houses a nursing school.  As I was walking to my class the other day, I was watching the nursing students walk to their classes.  All of them wear the same color scrubs, so it's pretty obvious who they are.

I realized for the first time... I mean it REALLY hit me... a majority of the nursing students are obese.  And morbidly so, not just a bit overweight.

Our surveys every year show that the kind of women who enter our nursing school do so because they "want to help others" and have a "caring personality" (quotes directly from the surveys, not from me).  There has to be a correlation between the rate of morbid obesity in nursing schools and that kind of caring/fixing personality.  And I say "women" because I did not notice any major obesity issues among the male nursing students I saw walking to class.

Thoughts?  Honestly, if I wasn't already finishing up my doctorate soon, I would change my thesis to something like this!

Audrey

Good morning Audrey.

I tend to agree with you that women tend to be the care giver persona.  They tend to put themselves last.  At least I found this to be true of me.  I was a nursing student also. This is very interesting.

I think it is very true. I think perhaps many of us feel that we cannot fix ourselves so we concentrate on others, and/or we concentrate on others to the detriment of ourselves.

i find that some of those who want to help others, don't take great care of themselves. i'm sure some nurses fall into this category too. 

Well and college life does not help... I gained a lot of my weight in those years... pulling all nighters, lack of sleep, full sugar coffee house drinks at study groups, fast food drive thru quick grab meals, vending machines with 400 calorie Hostess Apple Pies and bags of Doritos during break at night classes. 

I hear they are getting better now... offering SOME healthier choices but tired and stressed = poor choices are made even when better are available. I read a study that claimed stress induced changes to metabolism could lead to an 11-lb weight gain in an average year... 4 years of college.  

But yeah I agree... a lot of us are fixers and go into fields that care for others or care for others in our families and neglect the self care :( 

My thought is "generalizing" eventually ends up offending some one.  Kinda like last week a thread about men vs women dealing with how to respond to being asked how weight was taken off.  I made a generalized statement saying I envied men because many of them can fix a problem and move on with life more quickly than I can...probably not a good generalization to make on my part.   When does a nursing classroom observation turn into a judgment/generalization?  I really don't know; maybe ask a slim nursing student.  

And that is why I think a bit of research is in order.  Was my off-the-cuff observation correct?  Or was it just a day where a lot of obese nursing students happened to be in the hallway.  I am curious to find out... but unless I suddenly increase my free time (not likely) I don't think I will ever really know...

Audrey

I notice this in older nursing students and in certain schools, different sessions. Nursing school is very demanding. Later on as a career nurse depending on the area you work as a nurse, it affects weight. I was ok as an RN young and working days/evenings/nights. When i had kids and hit thirty, my body responded to the unsteady meal times, sleep deprivation, and no longer being a spring chicken lol. I love research but I recommend for a great thesis and project, visit many nursing schools to defend your correlation's validity. I would love to read your post if you do with your findings. 

I notice this in older nursing students and in certain schools, different sessions. Nursing school is very demanding. Later on as a career nurse depending on the area you work as a nurse, it affects weight. I was ok as an RN young and working days/evenings/nights. When i had kids and hit thirty, my body responded to the unsteady meal times, sleep deprivation, and no longer being a spring chicken lol. I love research but I recommend for a great thesis and project, visit many nursing schools to defend your correlation's validity. I would love to read your post if you do with your findings. 

I was/am a recovering fixer.

I would tend to agree with your generalization. Also, consider this, nursing is a field in which many low income people use as their stepping stone into the middle class (at least where I am from). Low income and morbid obesity are also correlated. Could you be watching socioeconomic factors instead of personality.

On being a recovering fixer. After back surgery (and work not missing me...calling me to tell me that it loves me...or feeling bad for me) I made the hard decision to take care of myself first, everything/everyone else second.  Life improved in a major way.

That is when I realized, corporations don't care and this is just an eff'ing job. What do I WANT out of life?  Been persuing the dreams ever since....