As nurses, you are certainly aware that stress is one of the major medical problems of our times. Studies show that nurses are the single sickest group of workers in the workforce. Ouch! This is appalling. When I worked nights in the PCU, I noticed that there were many more obese nurses working nights than days. What have you observed? In my experience, I have noticed that without exception, obese nurses apply to work nights. They want to work nights. These dedicated, long term night shift nurses also are on multiple meds and often discuss how many meds they are on, compare them, etc. What strikes me is that they speak about it in such a way as if it’s the most natural thing in the world. Please understand, I am writing this out of compassion for my fellow nurses, not as a critique. I am telling the truth, and yes, sometimes the truth hurts. We all know by now that working nights increases your risk for disease.

A nurse is the classic poster child for, “Is this job making me sick?”

Talk about, “the patient complained of pain on a scale of…” Many nurses consistently complain of pain. As a nurse working in the HR department of my hospital, shockingly, I have researched that stress related disability claims are estimated to increase by 50% in the next decade. Read more…