A Maximum BMI for nurses

Of course it's popular, that's the level of many people now, absolutely rabid about weight and can't see past it.

If a medical professional tells me something then I'll pay heed to it, whatever size they are. They're the ones who went to medical school; I didn't.

Why have you posted this particular snippet, OP? It was one of those stupid suggestions that made it abundantly clear that it's not worth asking the public their narrow views on anything. I'm wondering what your motives are...

Stepmother is a nurse, works in resus. She would be classed as overweight. She's s bloody hard working and brilliant nurse.

Presumably she didn’t choose community nursing. There are plenty of other nursing jobs.

This is ludicrous. A close friend is a firefighter and her BMI is in the morbidly obese category, it's all muscle. As is a friend who is an Olympian.

People can have higher BMI and be healthier than people in lower or 'average' BMI. More and more studies are proving BMI is only one aspect of the overall picture of health.

@Pippa246 you've just highlighted the competency that could be taken further and taken to the NMC for action. It's not about telling them they'll be sacked if they don't lose weight. It's telling them that they are failing a competency and that the relevant action will be taken.

No - her mentor basically just left her in the car if there was a long walk to the patient’s house (quite a rural community) and tried to take her on less strenuous visits. The mentor felt this came under “reasonable adjustments” and her weight could be managed as a disability. She did go on to qualify.

I would prefer not to be the only nurse on shift (which happens most of the time), I couldn’t care less what size my colleagues are as long as they can do their job properly!

I wonder if a minimum BMI would be introduced too?

How utterly ridiculous

It’s very hard to deal with this sort of thing once someone has a permanent contract. What would they do - tell them they are getting sacked if they don’t lose weight?

My point is that if you can’t nurse “competently” because of your size, you are not a safe practitioner. This is echoed the NMC standards of proficiency for registered nurses. And I know people will come in and say “you can be fat and fit” and “skinny people can be unhealthy too” - but we cannot deny that very obese people are generally quite unfit/unhealthy.

What happened to the one who couldn’t complete her visits? Like if she passed her course what happened to her when she would her been on a job and presumably would have had to have done those jobs as they were assigned to her?! Or did she fail due to it?

Precisely

Let's face it, i think we all know this is mostly driven by people being heartily sick of being told pointedly by a fat practice nurse that they 'need to lose weight'.
It really, really weakens the messaging that losing some weight is so crucial for your health - and so straightforward to achieve!! When its delivered by someone who hasn't successfully achieved a healthy bmi themselves.

Obvs this is a stupid idea

but we should ask ourselves if the NHS is an obesogenic employer. Are healthcare professionals at a lower or higher rate of obesity than other similar demographics. If a nurse is more likely to be living with obesity than someone of a similar background then the NHS should think about how to modify workplaces and working patterns so that it isn’t damaging workforce health.

Many hospitals don’t have heathy appetising food available for staff when they need it, at an affordable price. Many working patterns don’t allow healthcare professionals to drink enough water and take appropriate toilet breaks. I think these are the things we should really look at in the NHS. If fewer staff are living with obesity or overweight we would have reduced sickness rates and greater productivity, as well as better quality of life for staff.

Cortisol levels must be through the roof for nurses, it’s no surprise many gain weight. Refuse the stress they are under and increase the salary.

Sure, just as soon as they get rid of shift working patterns, low pay, have a 24hr subsidised staff canteen AND protected time to take full breaks, full staffing on all wards all the time, ability to take annual leave at time convenient to the employee, safe sustainable transport routes to work, onsite staff gyms and crèche.

Other suggestions included a Wetherspoons in every hospital, and GPs to be written into patients' wills signed Dr H Shipman.

I don't think it's meant sincerely.

Absolutely. It’s one of the toughest jobs going.

My little boy has just finished 4 rounds of treatment for burkitts lymphoma. Oncologists, as well as nurses on the oncology ward are bloody amazing.

I don’t care what they look like, they saved my sons life.

Thank you for what you do.

What would be a good idea for nurses would be to pay them more, regardless of their size.

Amen to this! And be paid a pittance while doing it.

Thanks for what you do. Please let that stay with you, not the mean comments.

I once when working on an extremely busy Oncology ward where we never stopped running around for 12 hours was told by an elderly patient " I'm surprised your so fat the way you run around ". It's not just telegraph readers that are rude !

Isn't your BMI really high if you are muscular? So if you weight lift or are an athlete you can't be a nurse?

YABU for reading the twattygraph.

Honestly the most idiotic idea I’ve heard for a while.

1. we need more nurses not fewer.
2. It suggests that the speaker has misunderstood what nurses do. They’re medical professionals giving medical advice. That advice is valid whether the person giving it is far or thin. So much of our attitude to excess weight is tied up with moral ideas about greed etc, which leads to all sorts of weird conclusions (that a fat nurse suggesting you lose weight is a hypocrite or that someone losing weight with the help of a medical intervention is somehow cheating).. The sooner we can move away from these childish ideas and face up to the obesity crisis as adults, the better.

I haven't read the article but I assume it was pointed out that shift work, lack of regular breaks, and lack of access/time to prepare and cook fresh, healthy meals all contribute to weight management issues and that the author has a plan to tackle this issue for nurses?