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Share your news with us – email [email protected], call +44 (0)20 8872 3144 or @NurseStandard
Eat Well, Nurse Well survey reveals stress at work leads to poor diets @katkeogh
Six out of ten nurses are too stressed to eat healthily, a Nursing Standard survey reveals. Almost 3,500 nurses, midwives and healthcare assistants from all parts of the UK responded to our survey, undertaken as part of our Eat Well, Nurse Well campaign. The campaign, which is backed by NHS England chief executive Simon Stevens and England’s most senior public health nurse Viv Bennett, aims to inspire nurses to maintain or develop healthy eating habits. It also urges employers to play their part in giving staff the choice – and time – to eat nutritious meals. Sixty per cent of respondents to our poll said workplace stress had a negative effect on their diet, while 79 per cent said a lack of breaks made it difficult to eat a healthy meal at work. Fifty-six per cent said poor staffing levels had a knock-on effect on their diet, and 29 per cent said limited canteen opening hours hampered their opportunities for having a proper meal while at work.
Overwork and stress
The RCN said the findings were a cause for concern and urged employers to do more to support staff. RCN senior employment relations adviser Kim Sunley said: ‘Overwork and stress can undermine the health of the nursing workforce and this survey shows how difficult it is for nursing staff to eat well at work because of the pressures they face. ‘Employers must do more to support their staff in eating healthily.
NURSING STANDARD
Obviously some of this support comes through the provision of adequate facilities with healthy meals, particularly for shift workers, but it also requires organisations to make sure their teams are properly
NURSING STAFF FIND IT DIFFICULT TO EAT WELL AT WORK BECAUSE OF THE PRESSURES THEY FACE staffed so that everyone can take the mealtimes they are entitled to.’ NHS England will publish a five-year plan to tackle obesity amid
warnings that obesity could bankrupt the health service. The document is expected to include incentives to ensure the NHS sets an example as an employer in the support it offers its own 1.3 million staff to stay healthy. The plan is expected to call for NHS staff to act as ‘health ambassadors’ in their local communities and could include incentives such as gym memberships for workers. NHS England chief executive Simon Stevens has urged employers to make healthy food an ‘easy and affordable choice’ for staff who are working long hours. See analysis on page 14 for the full results of our survey
Brand dons RCN T-shirt in support of nurses Nurses joined tens of thousands of public sector workers to march through the streets of central London in the fight for fairer pay. Comedian Russell Brand donned an RCN T-shirt to show his support for nurses taking part in the TUC’s Britain Needs a Pay Rise demonstration at the weekend. A survey of 30,000 NHS staff carried out on behalf of more than a dozen NHS trade unions found that 62 per cent of staff are relying on supplementary earnings to support their salary. There are also concerns about the future of unsocial hours payments, with 70 per cent saying they could not afford to work unsocial hours if these payments are removed. The survey also revealed nurses’ concerns that care is suffering as a result of understaffing and poor management. RCN general secretary Peter Carter said: ‘This march sends a clear message to the government – nurses and other NHS staff are angry that they have been expected to plug the gaps in NHS funds, while trying to cope with the effects of understaffing.’
MARK HAKANSSON
Exclusive by Kat Keogh
Nurse Rachael Greaves with Russell Brand
october 22 :: vol 29 no 8 :: 2014 7 Nursing Standard 2014.29:7-7. Downloaded from journals.rcni.com by Monash University on 11/26/15. For personal use only.
Share your news with us – email [email protected], call +44 (0)20 8872 3144 or @NurseStandard
Eat Well, Nurse Well survey reveals stress at work leads to poor diets @katkeogh
Six out of ten nurses are too stressed to eat healthily, a Nursing Standard survey reveals. Almost 3,500 nurses, midwives and healthcare assistants from all parts of the UK responded to our survey, undertaken as part of our Eat Well, Nurse Well campaign. The campaign, which is backed by NHS England chief executive Simon Stevens and England’s most senior public health nurse Viv Bennett, aims to inspire nurses to maintain or develop healthy eating habits. It also urges employers to play their part in giving staff the choice – and time – to eat nutritious meals. Sixty per cent of respondents to our poll said workplace stress had a negative effect on their diet, while 79 per cent said a lack of breaks made it difficult to eat a healthy meal at work. Fifty-six per cent said poor staffing levels had a knock-on effect on their diet, and 29 per cent said limited canteen opening hours hampered their opportunities for having a proper meal while at work.
Overwork and stress
The RCN said the findings were a cause for concern and urged employers to do more to support staff. RCN senior employment relations adviser Kim Sunley said: ‘Overwork and stress can undermine the health of the nursing workforce and this survey shows how difficult it is for nursing staff to eat well at work because of the pressures they face. ‘Employers must do more to support their staff in eating healthily.
NURSING STANDARD
Obviously some of this support comes through the provision of adequate facilities with healthy meals, particularly for shift workers, but it also requires organisations to make sure their teams are properly
NURSING STAFF FIND IT DIFFICULT TO EAT WELL AT WORK BECAUSE OF THE PRESSURES THEY FACE staffed so that everyone can take the mealtimes they are entitled to.’ NHS England will publish a five-year plan to tackle obesity amid
warnings that obesity could bankrupt the health service. The document is expected to include incentives to ensure the NHS sets an example as an employer in the support it offers its own 1.3 million staff to stay healthy. The plan is expected to call for NHS staff to act as ‘health ambassadors’ in their local communities and could include incentives such as gym memberships for workers. NHS England chief executive Simon Stevens has urged employers to make healthy food an ‘easy and affordable choice’ for staff who are working long hours. See analysis on page 14 for the full results of our survey
Brand dons RCN T-shirt in support of nurses Nurses joined tens of thousands of public sector workers to march through the streets of central London in the fight for fairer pay. Comedian Russell Brand donned an RCN T-shirt to show his support for nurses taking part in the TUC’s Britain Needs a Pay Rise demonstration at the weekend. A survey of 30,000 NHS staff carried out on behalf of more than a dozen NHS trade unions found that 62 per cent of staff are relying on supplementary earnings to support their salary. There are also concerns about the future of unsocial hours payments, with 70 per cent saying they could not afford to work unsocial hours if these payments are removed. The survey also revealed nurses’ concerns that care is suffering as a result of understaffing and poor management. RCN general secretary Peter Carter said: ‘This march sends a clear message to the government – nurses and other NHS staff are angry that they have been expected to plug the gaps in NHS funds, while trying to cope with the effects of understaffing.’
MARK HAKANSSON
Exclusive by Kat Keogh
Nurse Rachael Greaves with Russell Brand
october 22 :: vol 29 no 8 :: 2014 7 Nursing Standard 2014.29:7-7. Downloaded from journals.rcni.com by Monash University on 11/26/15. For personal use only.
