Healthy Nurses and The Self-Care Bandwagon

A few weeks ago, I was talking on the phone with a colleague who is not a nurse himself but who interacts with nurses on a regular basis in his professional life. His comments about nurses and their self-care (or lack thereof) were extremely thought-provoking.Like I have said on this blog many times before, nurses are renowned for not taking good care of themselves, ostensibly because they're so busy taking care of others and living the lives of the saints that they are perceived to be.  Let's face it. We all know that nurses aren't saints, while we also acknowledge that many nurses come close to sainthood vis-a-vis their compassion and their seeming ability to give until it hurts--and then give some more. Getting back to my phone call with my colleague, he told me that, in speaking with a friend of his who is a dentist, the dentist made an interesting comment about nurses. In response to something my colleague said about nurses, the dentist said in response (and I paraphrase): "Nurses are my worst patients. They spend so much time taking care of others that they're very good at neglecting their own health, especially their teeth! Do nurses floss? I bet that the majority think they're too busy to take the time!"So, what does this say about nurses? Well, first it says that many nurses potentially have very bad dental hygiene and may be at risk of gingivitis. (Remember the old saying: "You don't need to floss all of your teeth--only the ones you want to keep!")This al...
Source: Digital Doorway - Category: Nurses Tags: nurse nurse self care nurse wellness nurses nursing self-care Source Type: blogs