Do you think nursing has aged you?

3 Do you think doing this job alone has aged you? I know other things age you as well, but I'm talking re nursing specifically.
I was looking at my now calloused feet, dry hands, unfit, fat body (yes it's my fault entirely, I admit that) - and nearly white and very dry hair. My joints are starting to audibly creak, my back and the arches of my feet are starting to ache and throb after long shifts, and all my eating patterns have been affected. Being on call has ruined my digestion (I take medication for reflux and indigestion now, no H Pylori, waiting for bloods to come back), have a totally messed up sleeping pattern and have very little social life (due to being on call, or being called out at short notice). I can't seem to relax much anymore, I get taxed more than I make, especially when I work my butt off, I have no money left over for anything, and seem to have an underlying constant headache. I'm tired all the time (had the bloods done nothing abnormal as yet), don't have any energy it seems to do the other things I enjoy, and have lost interest in this life as a nurse. I don't feel inspired by it anymore at all, and I think it takes a dastardly toll on your body (couldn't think of another word but dastardly just then!)
God only knows how people do this fulltime as they get older and raise families, and keep it altogether, I take my hat and my shorts and my t-shirt off to you all!
I would honestly say doing nursing has aged me ten years more in the past 2 years I have been a RN.
Do you think nursing alone ages you, and what do you do to combat it? How has it aged you do you think? Do you really think it is worth doing as a job in terms of the stress it puts you under?
Caz
Rehab Dr I use says nursing puts the same stressors on you as a construction worker. It's hard to say what would be different had I taken another path, but 30 years in healthcare and I was forced into Disability/retirement for health reasons. (seemed like a bad back, took a year to track down a rare auto-immune deal attacking muscle tissue). Hard to say what might have been.

Quote from dthfytrRehab Dr I use says nursing puts the same stressors on you as a construction worker. It's hard to say what would be different had I taken another path, but 30 years in healthcare and I was forced into Disability/retirement for health reasons. (seemed like a bad back, took a year to track down a rare auto-immune deal attacking muscle tissue). Hard to say what might have been.

I haven't been a nurse for a full year yet and I think I've aged 5 yrs already . I work nights too and I have no energy when I am off, have bags under the bags under my eyes. I have developed back problems already, mainly sciatica, which has not been helped by a chiro or PT. I have no desire to keep feeling drained and sore for the rest of my life, I'm not even 40 yet! I am not sure how to handle this new lifestyle. I think not working fulltime is the answer! I also have pts tell me I look younger, but I think it's cause the light is dim and they aren't wearing their glasses ! I look a lot younger/fresher at 7pm than 7am, that's for sure!

Night shift is well known for the negative effects on quality and quantity of life. I still renew my licence hoping to get well enough to return to work. I probably wont ever be able to do CPR which really limits things, though. If I don't return to work, and my license lapses, my knowledge and experence don't change, so I believe once a nurse, always a nurse. We should never have to say we "used to be a nurse."

Oh definitely. In the past year of nursing I feel like I've aged about 20 years some nights. My face is starting to show the tiredness built up. My back aches sometimes. One of the staff noticed that we when we get up from chairs.. we all walk the same way lol.. Crickety.. tired

Quote from dajulienessOh definitely. In the past year of nursing I feel like I've aged about 20 years some nights. My face is starting to show the tiredness built up. My back aches sometimes. One of the staff noticed that we when we get up from chairs.. we all walk the same way lol.. Crickety.. tired

I felt like that a few months ago. After almost 4 years on night shift, I felt like I had aged 15. Always tired, always achey, pains in my joints, acid reflux, dry hair, diarrhea/constipation, weight gain. My doctor tested for everything, but tests showed nothing very out of the ordinary. Then a few months ago I was finally transferred to day shift. Miraculously most of my problems reversed themselves. I feel young again. Even the extra weight is dropping off, though I know I'm eating more. I can't even begin to describe the difference in myself. People actually want to be around me now. I sleep less but feel more rested with fewer hours of sleep. Hang in there. Shift work is very hard on some people. Coupled with the stress of your first two years as a nurse, working weird hours can be almost debilitating. In my experience the changes are not permanent, though.

Just got home from 12 hour nights in the ED. I am trying to find a joint in my body that doesn't ache, my back is screaming. I will be 60 this year. My eye sight ain't what it used to be. I think that nursing has aged me but it has also kept me young. I work with some young ins that keep me on my toes and laughing. I carry around not only extra physical weight (darn those cookies) but the thing that gets to me is the weight of patients who have broke my heart. Nursing is hard and I hope that I can retire from nursing and I hope the rest of you can too. Hang in there my brothers and sisters, I love and respect you all!!!redpinkhe

I think your question can be applied to any job which requires manual labor. Consider other occupations in which one uses their body to move, lift, bend over, squat, run, catch one's self in a mid-fall from water on the floor, assist a patient to the floor when their legs give out, answering two phone calls at the same time, dialing the telephone, writer's-cramp, eye strain from Physicians' hand writing..............

Without a doubt.

Oh, most definitely nursing has aged me...but then I'm not a "spring chicken" anymore anyway. Ha! Been a nurse almost 26 years; worked most of it in LTC except for the last 7 where I've been working in a psych hospital; the latter has aged me mentally as well as physically due to the required extra shifts ( working 16 hours instead of 8) every day of the week without notice due to call-ins, etc. Night shifts aged me fastest I think so got off nights. For those 20-somethings, I say "get out while you are still young enough to get into a different specialty or different field!". It's very sad to read that younger nurses with a year or two experience are already feeling older than their years.

I remember watching a video in school about Vietnam nurses. These were beautiful, thin, perky young women. But when you saw them interviewed in their 40s, they were fat, overly wrinkled, and kind of ugly. Beautiful on the inside, but it looked like nursing had let ALL of them age horribly! I see that most of the middle-aged nurses where I work are also unhealthy looking. And their mental health seems cranky, too.Studies show that stress has a HUGE negative impact on every aspect of our lives. Take time to care for yourself. People who care for others often do so to make up for lack of self-love. It's sort of a downward spiral, because the more you move away from your "ideal" self, the harder it becomes to accept yourself for who you are. Stop trying to be a perfect nurse, stop defining yourself as an overworked nurse, stop trying so hard to please everyone else. Take your lunch breaks and laugh a lot. Don't let the system suck your soul dry.And to all the nurses who like to hate on their patients about being drug addicts... well, I wish someone would give you a taste of your own medicine, because food addiction is just as destructive (with the exception that it has less stigma attached and thus isn't as detrimental to personal relationships). Addiction to television, the internet (so guilty), validation from men, etc. Addiction is just a way to mask the pain/uneasiness/emptiness that one experiences on a daily basis... Makes sense why nurses turn to unhealthy habits.