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Share your news with us – email [email protected], call +44 (0)20 8872 3144 or @NurseStandard
Healthy eating campaign aims to improve nurses’ wellbeing By Kat Keogh
@katkeogh
Nursing Standard is this week launching a major campaign to improve the health of the UK’s nurses, midwives and healthcare assistants. Long hours, missed breaks and shift work mean nurses often do not have the time to prepare and eat healthy, nutritious food. Readers have told us that, because patient care will always come first and time is so precious, grabbing a calorie-laden snack on the go is often the only option. Our Eat Well, Nurse Well campaign aims to inspire nurses to choose healthy food – and we will be urging employers to do their bit in giving you the choice, and the time, to eat a healthy meal. As part of our campaign, we are conducting a UK-wide survey to find out more about your eating habits – and what can be done to improve the choice offered in your workplace canteens. In addition to our survey, we will be featuring tips from nutritionists on how to plan healthy meals and snacks that are suitable for shift work in hospitals, care homes and the community. We will be sharing success stories from nurses who have transformed their eating habits and feel more energised to help their patients. Eat Well, Nurse Well is also about persuading employers to ensure they are doing all they can to help staff lead healthier lifestyles. That is why we will be asking employers to sign up to our healthy helpings charter to improve food choices and availability for staff. Our campaign has already won the backing of Public Health England director of nursing Viv Bennett and RCN general secretary Peter Carter, who are urging employers to get on board.
NURSING STANDARD
Eat Well, Nurse Well campaign: principal aims To urge employers to commit to improving food choices and availability for staff by signing up to our healthy helpings charter (see page 14). Inspire nurses with hints and tips from experts, including other nurses, on healthy eating and portion sizes. Inform nurses on how healthier food choices lead to better patient care. Professor Bennett said: ‘This promises to be an exciting campaign. Nursing is an emotionally and at times physically demanding job, so this initiative to support nurses to look after themselves is incredibly important.’ Dr Carter said: ‘Nursing staff are under so much pressure at work that they frequently miss their meal breaks and eat on the run, with a heavy reliance on convenient but unhealthy options.’
‘THIS INITIATIVE TO SUPPORT NURSES IS INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT’ – Viv Bennett
‘Employers have a role to play in improving the support given to health workers to help them look after themselves. They should be providing healthy food choices on site, with facilities available for staff working night shifts, and ensuring staff receive the breaks they need to eat their meals properly. ‘As many employers as possible should sign up to Nursing Standard’s healthy helpings charter.’ Jeremy Hunt outlined new legally
enforceable standards to improve food for patients and staff in England’s hospitals. A report, published by the Hospital Food Standards Panel, says that more than half of the food served in hospitals is for staff and visitors and needs to be different from that served to patients. It adds that staff require healthy and nutritious food to provide optimal care, and the food they eat at work makes up a substantial part of their diet. Canteens must also comply with government recommendations on salt, saturated fats and sugar, and food must be sustainably sourced. News of the new food standards follow a call by NHS England chief executive Simon Stevens for the health service to help staff slim down and ‘set a good example’ to patients. He wants to explore ideas such as building more gyms and offering incentives to encourage staff to eat more healthily. ‘We have got to raise our game,’ Mr Stevens said in July. ‘A lot of food in hospital canteens – not just for patients but for staff too – is chips and burgers. The NHS as an employer – could we offer positive incentives for our nurses and other healthcare staff? Yes, I think we could.’ To take part in our survey go to www. surveymonkey.com/s/eatwellnursewell september 17 :: vol 29 no 3 :: 2014 7
Nursing Standard 2014.29:7-7. Downloaded from journals.rcni.com by Univ of Pennsylvania on 12/07/15. For personal use only.
Share your news with us – email [email protected], call +44 (0)20 8872 3144 or @NurseStandard
Healthy eating campaign aims to improve nurses’ wellbeing By Kat Keogh
@katkeogh
Nursing Standard is this week launching a major campaign to improve the health of the UK’s nurses, midwives and healthcare assistants. Long hours, missed breaks and shift work mean nurses often do not have the time to prepare and eat healthy, nutritious food. Readers have told us that, because patient care will always come first and time is so precious, grabbing a calorie-laden snack on the go is often the only option. Our Eat Well, Nurse Well campaign aims to inspire nurses to choose healthy food – and we will be urging employers to do their bit in giving you the choice, and the time, to eat a healthy meal. As part of our campaign, we are conducting a UK-wide survey to find out more about your eating habits – and what can be done to improve the choice offered in your workplace canteens. In addition to our survey, we will be featuring tips from nutritionists on how to plan healthy meals and snacks that are suitable for shift work in hospitals, care homes and the community. We will be sharing success stories from nurses who have transformed their eating habits and feel more energised to help their patients. Eat Well, Nurse Well is also about persuading employers to ensure they are doing all they can to help staff lead healthier lifestyles. That is why we will be asking employers to sign up to our healthy helpings charter to improve food choices and availability for staff. Our campaign has already won the backing of Public Health England director of nursing Viv Bennett and RCN general secretary Peter Carter, who are urging employers to get on board.
NURSING STANDARD
Eat Well, Nurse Well campaign: principal aims To urge employers to commit to improving food choices and availability for staff by signing up to our healthy helpings charter (see page 14). Inspire nurses with hints and tips from experts, including other nurses, on healthy eating and portion sizes. Inform nurses on how healthier food choices lead to better patient care. Professor Bennett said: ‘This promises to be an exciting campaign. Nursing is an emotionally and at times physically demanding job, so this initiative to support nurses to look after themselves is incredibly important.’ Dr Carter said: ‘Nursing staff are under so much pressure at work that they frequently miss their meal breaks and eat on the run, with a heavy reliance on convenient but unhealthy options.’
‘THIS INITIATIVE TO SUPPORT NURSES IS INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT’ – Viv Bennett
‘Employers have a role to play in improving the support given to health workers to help them look after themselves. They should be providing healthy food choices on site, with facilities available for staff working night shifts, and ensuring staff receive the breaks they need to eat their meals properly. ‘As many employers as possible should sign up to Nursing Standard’s healthy helpings charter.’ Jeremy Hunt outlined new legally
enforceable standards to improve food for patients and staff in England’s hospitals. A report, published by the Hospital Food Standards Panel, says that more than half of the food served in hospitals is for staff and visitors and needs to be different from that served to patients. It adds that staff require healthy and nutritious food to provide optimal care, and the food they eat at work makes up a substantial part of their diet. Canteens must also comply with government recommendations on salt, saturated fats and sugar, and food must be sustainably sourced. News of the new food standards follow a call by NHS England chief executive Simon Stevens for the health service to help staff slim down and ‘set a good example’ to patients. He wants to explore ideas such as building more gyms and offering incentives to encourage staff to eat more healthily. ‘We have got to raise our game,’ Mr Stevens said in July. ‘A lot of food in hospital canteens – not just for patients but for staff too – is chips and burgers. The NHS as an employer – could we offer positive incentives for our nurses and other healthcare staff? Yes, I think we could.’ To take part in our survey go to www. surveymonkey.com/s/eatwellnursewell september 17 :: vol 29 no 3 :: 2014 7
Nursing Standard 2014.29:7-7. Downloaded from journals.rcni.com by Univ of Pennsylvania on 12/07/15. For personal use only.
