Are we doing enough to look after our Nurses?

Nurses who look after our health so well are facing a bit battle of their own.

A study has found that many are facing musculoskeletal conditions, obesity and mental health problems.

Southern Cross University studied almost 5500 nurses throughout the country and discovered these findings. They also found that nursing was a rapidly ageing workforce with about 40 percent aged 50 and over.

The younger nurses were coming not rising up the ranks to take the places of these older nurses which is just adding to the pressure of their workloads.

It is reported that Nurses lead particularly unhealthy lives partly due to shift work. This can mean a poor diet, little exercise and stress.

The study has found that 30 per cent of Australia’s 320,000 nurses had a chronic illness with half of those requiring time off from work in the year before the survey.

The most common complaints reported were musculoskeletal – such as osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis and back problems, then followed by obesity and mental health afflictions.

Karin Tilden, 58, has been a nurse since she was 17, recently had a knee replacement. She has also developed back problems due to the tiring nature of her profession.

”They said to me, ‘You’ve got the back of a bricklayer’,” she said.

The findings have also found that 35 per cent were at a high risk of developing diabetes disease in the next five years. More than 10 per cent consume more than two standard alcoholic drinks a day and 9 per cent were daily smokers.

”Unfortunately, we can preach all the right things to do, but we’re really not good at doing it ourselves. We are caregivers, not care takers,” she said.

More than half felt that stress affected their health and 46 per cent said weight management was a problem.

”Working shift work means nurses are there 24/7,” Ms Ross said. ”In the middle of the night when they go for something to eat or drink, you go to the vending machine and it’s only chocolate.

”They get home at midnight; they’re not going to sit down and cook a healthy meal.”

Ms Ross said that a solution could be to give nurses better access to healthy food and gyms in their workplaces.

”We need to look after the nurses we’ve got so that they aren’t as stressed, they actually do have a meal break during their shifts, [and] they aren’t expected to just stay [back] because there’s not enough staff.”

To add insult to injury our Nurses don’t seem to nearly be paid enough for the type of work they are undertaking, forcing them to work longer house and into later life.

It seems no wonder why younger generations are not overly keen to take up this incredibly important profession.

Let us know your say today? Are you a nurse or perhaps you were previously?

What sorts of things can we do to better look after our health care professionals?