Just another article on how to avoid wrecking your health when working the most important job in society, eh? Depressing as the fact is, we need them. Healthcare is one of the most stressful professions to be in. It is that poisonous combination of high stress, long hours, and the worry that, if you slip up, people’s very lives may be at stake. The only upside is that people do such jobs day-in and day-out because they have a genuine calling towards saving lives and caring for patients. But there is no denying that it can be incredibly tough, and the sad fact is that it’s probably tougher than it ever was.
The reason for this is undoubtedly the talent shortage that the U.S. healthcare system is currently suffering. Just ask Health Jobs Nationwide. This healthcare jobs recruitment service say that the healthcare jobs market currently has institutions competing for the top talent – and very often failing to get it. This adversely affects the quality of care and, yes, makes the working environment more stressful and taxing. Accordingly, the imperative to take care of yourself, avoid burnout, and attend to your nutrition has never been stronger.
What Wrecks a Nurse’s Nutrition?
If you are an overworked nurse (and, in the current situation, you probably are) then one of the most insidious effects that the job can have on your health is that it can cause you to compromise on your nutrition. Most nurses will be afforded a lunch and dinner break – normally for a pitifully short period of about half an hour. And it is not even uncommon for nurses to go back to their vital work a bit earlier.
Nutrition is what you eat, but it is also when you eat. To maintain optimal health, eating meals at the same time every day is important for syncing your eating habits with your circadian rhythm, thereby ensuring optimal digestion and nutrition. An irregular sleep schedule can interfere with the hormones in your body that control appetite, this in turn means that you simply don’t eat because you do not feel like you have to – but you do!
Even if nurses take the full lunchbreak, it is still quite common for meals to take a back seat to catching up with colleagues or dealing with the odd emergency that interferes with the break.
What Can You Do About It?
So, that’s the danger. And certainly, knowing the insidious ways in which the working day (or night) can interfere with your nutrition is certainly the first step to doing something about it. Knowing that irregular sleep could be wrecking your appetite, for example, leads to the natural conclusion that you should force yourself to eat on your breaks all the same – and to keep mealtimes as regular as possible.
In fact, most nutrition tips for nurses are as simple as this. Nutrition for nurses is broadly the same as anybody else; it’s just that the nurse lifestyle can interfere with good eating habits. Nevertheless, there is some more specific advice.
A nurse’s job is a high energy job, but it’s not a 100m sprint, it is an endurance race. Consequently, you should stick to foods that release energy slowly, such as lean proteins, complex carbs, and veggies. Eating too much sugar can give you spurts of energy that are simply not enough to make it through a shift.
Of course, knowledge is everything in the end. Learn the unique ways in which working as a nurse can interfere with your nutrition and that will give you all the knowledge you need to effectively do something about it.
