To expect fat nurses to have some insight?.

[Vikingess]

Just had a routine health check today at my GP surgery. Two nurses - both considerably overweight - dispensing advice on diet. I
am not overweight -AIBU to expect health professionals to demonstrate the the standards they recommended or at least admit to falling short.

You think they should have apologised, and perhaps asked you for some dietary advice? Stop being so judgemental.

It's like getting advice from a dentist with bad teeth a bit. Or my partner will give me advice on healthy diet and regime he doesn't stick to. So credible indeed

Well it depends what you mean. Were they telling you to lose weight and go on a diet even though you’re not overweight? If so that’s an issue irrespective of their weight.

If they were just given general healthy eating advice that’s to be expected as it’s part of their job and what you’re entitled to receive

They’re hardly going to announce “oh I’m fat myself so I can’t give you this important health information” that would be silly and distracting. They can do discuss their health with their own nurse /doctor.

Also when I was a size 6-8 for many years I had terrible eating habits. If I was a nurse giving diet advice you wouldn’t have known that about me so yeah don’t judge a book by its cover.

I think it’s unrealistic to expect everyone in healthcare to live 100% perfect lives or have to explain themselves to patients when giving health advice. I provide contraception for a living and my first child was an ‘accident’ (best accident I’ve ever had!) and I would never tell patients this.

Yanbu

AIBU to expect health professionals to demonstrate the the standards they recommended or at least admit to falling short

What do you want them to say? ‘Yes I know that I’m a fatty boom boom but I must tell you xyz because it’s my job.’ Your question doesn’t make any sense

While I do know what you mean these nurses probably have to have life style conversations with patients as part of their job and as such probably have the same conversation thousands of times… it isn’t reasonable that they, on repeat , have to discuss something private about themselves at patients appointments. Just because you can see their weight doesn’t mean you know anything about them or their health and nor are you entitled to.

I work in health care and give out loads of advice that I don’t necessarily stick too…because I have to give the advice as part of my job. That doesn’t mean I have to stick to it. So YABU

Their job is to dispense medical advice as required, that's what they are trained for. Just because they don't follow the advice themselves doesn't make them any less qualified or make the facts less so.

A doctor that smokes is still going to to tell you that you shouldn't because it's bad for your health. Being overweight doesn't mean you don't know the basics of healthy eating.

This is a brilliant example and one I was thinking of actually .

You really don’t know anyone’s circumstances and how well they’ve stick to their own professional advice in their personal life. Best to just focus on their professional advice and take it as that rather than judging how they live.

And even a fat nurse may have lost a significant amount of weight in the past through diet.

Are you one of those people who undermine teachers who don’t have kids?
They are doing their job. Being slim wouldn’t make them understand and be able to share the info any better

This! YABU.

A fatty boom boom ha ha ha 😂

omg that's text book irony

It sounds like you’re expecting them to lead by example. It makes sense, really, at least from a logical point of view, like with the dentist example above. You wouldn’t go to a hairdresser who had bad hair, would you?

It reminds me of my PE teachers at high school. One was hugely overweight and the other smoked like a chimney. Uninspiring and clearly didn’t practice what they preached. The question is, should they have (had) to? Was their job to teach or inspire? It’s an interesting one, OP. Arguably if the nurses are doing their job, it’s up to them what they do in their spare time and whether they follow their own advice.

Oh look another one of these threads...

-AIBU to expect health professionals to demonstrate the the standards they recommended or at least admit to falling short.

How do you know they’re falling short? They may have a hormonal or metabolic condition, may be 6 months post partum, they may have lost a lot of weight to get to where they are now. Do all professionals need to give a disclaimer before dispensing professional advice, or just the fat ones?

I bet the advice wasn’t even good. YANBU. I’d have just rolled my eyes and ignored.

Seems like cutting off your nose to spite your face TBH. Take the health advice, don't take the health advice; you're the one who'll face the consequences if you reject healthcare information, whether you think the nurse is a hypocrite or not.

You are right. Sorry. They are qualified to give the right advice even though they obviously weren’t able to follow it themselves. I think I just found it quite patronising and hypocritical it the way the advice was delivered.

You wouldn’t go to a hairdresser who had bad hair, would you?

I’ve seen a fair few hairdressers with their hair scraped back looking far from best - I just assume lack of time rather than lack of knowledge or ability.

Are we missing the part where the OP herself is not overweight so why on earth does she need dietary advice?

So much wrong with this, OP...

Yabu. Giving you the advice is their job. Whether they themselves follow it is irrelevant, and of course you’re also free not to follow it if you choose.

Good example of someone being unable to distinguish between health advice and moral or aesthetic judgement.

YABU. Would you rather they gave you incorrect advice? Or perhaps you'd rather that only abstemious people with exemplary diets and exercise regimes should allowed to be health care professionals? Good luck getting gp appointments and getting to the top of a waiting list for an operation if that were the case.

Are you also one of those people who thinks that all teachers must be outstanding, and that if they express any dissatisfaction with the job, or comment on the poor behaviour of their students, they should quit (even though schools already can't get enough teachers)?