Health-promoting Lifestyle Behavior of Nurses
The most relevant article for this study is the “Health-promoting Lifestyle Behavior of Nurses” by Heidari et al. (2018). The article discusses a variety of health-promoting lifestyle behavior of nurses that impacts other people. The article highlights some of the behaviors that nurses are expected to display since they act as role models in any healthcare environment. The knowledge in the article would be used to influence the healthcare paradigm because it focuses on different health-promoting lifestyle behaviors of nurses that directly impact community members.
Frequently, in any healthcare setting, registered nurses (RN) are responsible for promoting health through different approaches such as healthy lifestyles. RNs have always promoted health and wellbeing in society; however, very few studies have been carried on nurses’ health and health behaviors. Health authorities have ignored the assessment of nurses’ health and health behaviors, yet it is essential.
Studying our nurses’ health and health behaviors is critical since they play an instrumental role in promoting health and wellbeing. Promoting health and wellbeing by RNs is an essential aspect of the community since it gives individuals the opportunity to understand the lifestyle that should be embraced. RNs have been given the responsibility of informing the community about health practices that promote health and wellbeing.
The RNs are expected to attend to different patients at different locations, which stresses them because of long working hours. Such nurses are exposed to stress because they are forced to spend most of their time taking care of the patients (Keele, 2019). In such situations, nurses are psychologically affected since they are overworked. Once their psychology is affected, it means that their wellbeing and health are also affected. Such nurses find it difficult to promote health and wellbeing. After all, they cannot display lifestyle behaviors that promote health and wellbeing because they are not psychologically fit.
Most health organizations are not concerned with the health and wellbeing of the nurses. Instead, they only concentrate on different approaches nurses can promote the health and wellbeing of the patients. This has resulted in poor dissemination of health education and low-quality nursing care because nurses cannot demonstrate good health practices and a high level of wellness.
One of the most critical lifestyle behaviors that promote health and wellbeing amongst nurses is a balanced diet. A balanced diet is essential because human health revolves around the food that one consumes. For instance, vegetables and fruits protect one from developing chronic diseases like obesity and type 2 cancer. Nurses are expected to consume a balanced diet for them to be able to offer quality services as a way of promoting health and wellbeing in the community.
Eating habits determine individual health status because they affect physical, emotional, and mental development (Keele, 2019). In this context, nurses are expected to observe their eating habits because they directly impact the health status of individuals in a given community. For instance, nurses can effectively educate the community on healthy foods if they are also using the same meals. In brief, nurses’ lifestyle behavior should promote other peoples’ health status since they are termed as role models.
The RNs have the responsibility of educating people on how to protect themselves against infections. The problem is that the RNs are exposed to health hazards such as carcinogens and infectious diseases that affect their performance (Heidari et al., 2018). For instance, the Covid-19 pandemic affected most nurses before vaccines were developed. Nurses in the frontline work against Covid-19 were the most affected healthcare workers, which negatively impacted their health-promoting lifestyle behaviors. In most countries, especially developing countries, nurses are not well protected because of the limited resources. This is the reason why health disparities are primarily experienced in developing countries.
References
Heidari, M., Borujeni, M., & Khosravizad, M. (2018). Health-promoting Lifestyles of Nurses and Its Association with Musculoskeletal Disorders: A Cross-Sectional Study. Journal Of Lifestyle Medicine, 8(2), 72-78. https://doi.org/10.15280/jlm.2018.8.2.72
Keele, R. (2019). To Role Model or Not? Nurses’ Challenges in Promoting a Healthy Lifestyle. Workplace Health & Safety, 67(12), 584-591. https://doi.org/10.1177/2165079919828738