An overview of health challenges faced by nurses

Nurses play a critically important role in health care delivery as caregivers, patient advocates, managers of care, and decision-makers, who use critical thinking-skills in order to come up with the best outcomes for patients, as well as helping the patients’ families through tough health challenges. Their varying roles as dependable counselors, comforters, confidants, and great listeners are a big part of the reason why nurses are so vital in the health care system. Indeed, polls conducted by the Gallup Organization consistently list nursing as one of the nation's most trusted professions. However, many nurses pay a huge price for their service. Indeed, research shows that, on average, nurses are less healthy than the general public. They are more likely to be overweight, have higher levels of stress, and get less sleep. The heavy lifting required on the job makes nurses seven times more susceptible to musculoskeletal injuries like back pain, an ailment that afflicts large numbers of Americans.