Healthy Lifestyle

• Individual’s responsibility to take advantage of wellness opportunities

• Practicing good health habits is especially important for health care workers

Components of Healthy Living

• Maintaining a normal weight• Sufficient exercise• Getting adequate sleep• Practicing preventive measures

Maintaining Normal Weight

• Healthy nutrition and weight contribute to wellness and disease prevention

• Height-weight charts and Body Mass Index (BMI)

• Excess weight can cause discomfort and serious disease

Minimizing Health Risks

• Smoking• Substance abuse• Occupational hazards• Burnout

Erratic eating in shiftworking health professionals – a potential health risk?

AL Jaquiery1,2,3, T Postelnik1, V Alderson-Wallace1, C Wall1

Erratic Eating in Shiftworking Health Professionals

• Shift workers on rotating shifts have a higher incidence of metabolic disease than the non-shiftworking population.

• Irregular eating patterns, where the frequency and amount of food intake varies unpredictably from day to day, may be associated with an increased risk of metabolic disease.

• If irregular eating contributes to metabolic disease risk in shift workers, this may be a potentially remediable factor.

Epidemiological studies• ‘Eating meals irregularly: a novel environmental risk factor for

the metabolic syndrome’. Sierra-Johnson, J et al 2008 – Population-based cross-sectional study of 3,607 60-year

old people in Sweden. – Eating meals regularly was associated with a lower

incidence of metabolic syndrome, insulin resistance– ‘... eating meals irregularly may be part of several potential

environmental risk factors that are associated with the metabolic syndrome and may have future implications in giving dietary advice to prevent and/or treat the syndrome’.

Hypothesis

• Nurses and junior doctors on shift work have variable meal and snack frequency across different shifts.

• Mismatch of hunger signals and food intake will disrupt

normal circadian rhythms and appetite regulating pathways.• This will in turn affect metabolism in ways that promote

weight gain and increase the risk of metabolic syndrome.

Dietary Composition

• Nurses (all female) and female junior doctors had double RDI of sugar as % total intake on every shift and on their days off.

• Male junior doctors had mean Na intake 150% RDI.

Summary

• Nurses on shift work had > average BMI, not related to age.

• Irregular eating patterns are common in health care workers doing shift work.

• Women had greater sugar intake, and men greater Na intake, than recommended.

Conclusions

• Nurses on shift work had > average BMI, not related to age.

• Irregular eating patterns are common in health care workers doing shift work.

• Women had greater sugar intake, and men greater Na intake, than recommended.

What is Good for the Patient is Good for the Doctor

Dr. Kopacz

Physician Dissatisfaction

• 60% decreased enthusiasm practicing medicine

• 87% said physician morale decreased - past 5 yrs.

• 74% reported excessive administrative duties• 56% lack of time for families, hobbies, friends• 54% dissatisfied with lack of autonomy

Physician Burnout

• Negative attitude toward self, others, work• Distancing from patients emotional needs• Overprescribing medication• Emotional Exhaustion• Decreased creativity• Nonproductive hyperactivity• Low sense of personal accomplishment & job

satisfaction

What makes Physicians Happy?

• When their work is challenging• When individual growth is promoted• When they can make a difference in other

people’s lives

Why what we do isn’t working

• “The relentless urgency that characterizes most corporate cultures undermines creativity, quality, engagement, thoughtful deliberation, and, ultimately, performance,”

Why what we do isn’t working

• “‘How can we get more out of our people?’ leaders regularly ask us. We suggest they pose a different question: ‘How can I more intentionally invest in meeting the multidimensional needs of my employees so they’re freed, fueled, and inspired to bring the best of themselves to work every day?’”

Multi-Dimensional Needs of Human Beings

Significance (Spirit): What I stand for and believe in – what gives me a sense of meaning Self-expression (Mind): Freedom to develop and express my unique skills and talents Security (Emotions): Feeling appreciated, cared for, valued for who I am and what I do Sustainability (Body): Being able to regularly renew and take care of myself, so I’m healthy, fit, and resilient

Organizational Example

• Time set aside for following personally-driven creative work that relates to the company

• Exercise facilities on site• Weekly group walks to brainstorm• Time limits on meetings• Organic food in cafeteria

The Responsibility of the Organization

To empower the clinician as a new professional.

To support the clinician’s body, mind, emotions, and spirit…in order for the clinician to support the client’s body, mind, emotions, and spirit.

The Responsibility of the Professional

To provide excellent technical treatment.To support & empower clients in body, mind, emotion, and spirit.To care for one’s own body, mind, emotions, and spirit.To be the ethical conscience of the organization when its policies undermine the human needs of the staff and clients.