Nurse Nutrition in the Hospital
In two unaffiliated hospitals I worked at, the same gift was given to nurses during nurses week. A cart was pushed around to each unit by upper management like the CEO and CNO of the healthcare system. The cart had king size candy bars, trail mix, coffee, Celsius energy drinks, caffeinated chocolates, ice cream bars and sandwiches. Really? REALLY!? Your nurses are stressed. They’re tired. They’re not properly nourished or hydrated. So you give them a sugary treat for a quick dopamine fix so they may forget for a minute how tough work is. It’s the cheap, easy, and ignorant way to show appreciation.
It is also quite ignorant. We’re in the hospital. We need to model health, not only to the patients but to our colleagues. I rarely have a day where I don’t have at least 1 diabetic patient. If they see me chowing down on some ice cream, they may think ice cream isn’t that bad. Sure, they should know it is if they’re a diabetic, but basic nutritional literacy among patients is lacking. Therefore, it is important for us to model health to them.
Remember during COVID when everyone called Nurses “healthcare heroes?” I’m not sure how, but everyone assumed healthcare heroes loved pizza more than the teenage mutant ninja turtles. Before COVID, hospital breakrooms rarely had healthy communal food on the table. Typically a box of donuts, some chips and dip, or some other processed sweet treat. During COVID, it was all that and an endless supply of pizza. Management would try and calm their stressed and understaffed team with pizza parties. Really? When all your employees are stressed and in the weeds trying to treat more patients than they should, you get them pizza. Look, I love pizza, but not like this. If you’re going to provide your staff some meals when they’re overwhelmed, it shouldn’t be a pizza or cookies or a sugary treat. It should be something nutritious. A salad tray, fresh fruit, some catered protein, anything that is going to make the staff feel better after eating it. Not something they can overindulge in that will only slow them down.
Okay, enough ripping on management. Most nurses and hospital employees work 12 hour shifts, which typically end up being to closer to 13 hours. In that time, most people probably eat 2-3 meals. Nurses? Rarely get to take lunch breaks, and rarely pack their lunch. Most people that I work with go down to the cafeteria for lunch. The meals served down there lack 2 things we all need more of, fiber and protein. Most cafeterias have salad bars with lean proteins, but most hot food options are typically fried, more processed, and higher in fat and carbs than protein. But its easy, its convenient, and doesn’t require any forethought.
I know this scenario isn’t unique to Nurses working in the hospital. I’m sure most breakrooms have similar selections of snacks. But in the healthcare setting, where patients are ill and the providers should lead by example, we need to re-evaluate the message we’re sending by providing staff with nutrient lacking sugary snacks.
