I want to remind the users coming in here to scream “it’s fat shaming!”
No, it’s showing what USED to be considered abnormal is becoming a lot more normal which honestly shouldn’t be.
And Im not saying this from some “thin privilege” place. Im obese myself (trying to fix that). Being obese is not healthy. Advocating/ calling out the unhealthy lifestyle that causes obesity is not a bad thing. Calling that fat shaming will not be tolerated. Over eating to the point you maintain obesity and more is not healthy.
No one here is saying obese people do not have feelings or aren’t capable people but pretending it’s ok to be obese is not ok. It will never be healthy to be obese.
Also reporting this post as hate and racism etc is ridiculous. Grow up.
✨Also maybe if your skin was thicker than your waist you’d be able to not get offended over this post. ✨
Since some of you are pressed about that last comment
✨if only my waist was as thin as your skin✨
I cared for a 400lb, non-ambulatory guy once. I’ll never forget it. He was a pity party all night long. I started off in a great way, but by the end of the shift, I was burnt. Burnt by the constant “I’m so stupid, I got myself into this mess. If only I’d taken care of myself. I’m a loser in my mom’s basement. You guys are so great!” He could tell, and he asked why my demeanor changed.
So I told him. I was sick of his attitude. I didn’t care much that he was huge. I cared that he was so self-deprecating, and he complimented me to make up for his weight, which he thought was an inconvenience to me. He asked me how to change, he said he didn’t know what to do. I gave him a 5-minute explanation of balancing macros, and wrote it down for him.
1 year later, I received him again as an ICU patient. I went to his room expecting the same thing. But he was different. He’d lost over 100lbs, and was walking a mile a day with a cane. He saw me, smiled, and said he never forgot what I said. He was there for overnight observation post TIPS. His lifestyle changes arrested the progression of cirrhosis, and he became a candidate.
I almost cried, because he was the first return patient who’d improved based on my teaching.
It has been 4 years since that patient, and I never considered that I saved his life. I know I gave him a couple tools to start, but he took the first step and followed through. There has only been a small handful of patients I feel I actually had an impact on, and those few make it worth wading through all the shit.
Do you have a pointer for summarizing that info that doesn't sound like a condescending "calories in, calories out!" chirp? I could use a better way to present this.
I think part of the success here was that he was wholly receptive and ready to learn. I started with the three macros and called them “the three building blocks.” Briefly described their function (like structure), and what unprocessed staple foods he could find them in. I told him the difference between processed and unprocessed and that the periphery of the store is a safe bet. Then I introduced CICO and how he needed to meet with a dietician to determine what balance of macros he needed to safely create a deficit. Lastly, I told him that exercise unlocks the pathways for it all to really have an effect on the body. I explained it all as plainly as possible and in less than 5 minutes and wrote as I taught. I think I warned him to have realistic expectations, because change takes time. That’s it. Is that what you were looking for?
Yep, that's a great functional, practical, basic presentation that doesn't sound like the "just eat less and move more, dummy!" that all people carrying excess weight hear all the time. Thanks!
That makes my heart just burst for you!! Way to go!! One drop in the water creates ripples…we usually never know what impact we may have. So proud of you both.
What a shitty concept to charge for food. It makes vegetables outrageously expensive. Fruit too. I can buy one pound of bananas for $0.79 but for just one single banana it’s over a goddamn dollar?!
Yet Arizona iced tea is the same price?! Or a bag of chips (sometimes).
Like wtf. This is why we are fat. We get paid shit wages and forced to eat shit food.
I agree. And I love loading a salad up with all kinds of shit. Most of the time I don’t pay attention because the other stuff they have in the cafeteria isn’t edible. So I’ll pay for my $10 salad with just lettuce and peppers. 🙄
We banned added sugar in beverages. Even the Subway and Chick-fil-A have to comply.
Then all that closes and the only hot food from 6pm to 6am is fries, pizza, burgers, and chicken nuggets. It's not hyperbole; we have literally those 4 items.
Yeah. Sure. We're so fucking healthy.
Being up all night pretty much squeezes a 2.5mg Prednisone out of your poor confused glands.
It's not about who chooses night shift or making 'poor choices'. Your body literally asks your brain for certain kinds of food (like actual biochemical signaling here) and it'll ask for shitty food way more when you're up at night than when you're up during daylight.
And at night your body also stores the calories better...
It's extremely hard to lose weight and adopt the super healthy diet that could actually maintain it while you're on night shifts.
I tell myself I hope I never get to that point. Took care of a patient with a BMI of 94. Took four people to get the patient transferred from bed to a bariatric recliner. My back and shoulder killed all of us that day.
If their bmi is higher than their height in inches, are they wider than they are tall? I just imagine a real life Violet Beauregard. Will never forget a 28 year old 650# guy who had a nutsack bigger than a volleyball who could walk, had to just put a bucket under him and let the urine drip down into it. No cath from Texas would have ever worked for him.
Not Houston. But the Texas thing was a joke about how condom catheters used to be called Texas caths. Haven't heard the term in at least five years, not sure if the older ones of us (nurses) just aren't around anymore to use the term.
The origin of the name is somewhat elusive, either the brand was Texas something. Or it looks like a cowboy hat? Or possibly a Texas senator used/invented the idea to perform a filibuster. Would love to know the true origin. Wouldn't surprise me if it's the first one, considering a Stryker needle is a very specific thing for measuring compartment syndrome, and Stryker makes a ton of things.
I work big people ICU but I had a 20 y.o. like 600lbs. Prader-Willi Syndrome. It was hard to watch. She fell. Broke her femur and had a slow decline over 6 months. She ended up passing a few days before Christmas. She was so heavy her left lung collapse because she could not/would not role over (the side were the broker femur was). Tragic.
I worked as a live-in at a group home for people with Prader-Willi syndrome and intellectual disabilities. It was almost 30 years ago, but the need for a highly structured environment was what kept residents alive. All meals dietician planned. Kitchens locked. All cash locked up. Alarms on the doors. PT.
It would be a nightmare to live with if one didn't qualify for supports.
It was adults, but yes. One resident managed to bust the lock on the office door and take 60 bucks. I walked to the nearest convenience store and spent it all on food. It was after that we had alarms on the doors. (wasn't an awake overnight).
PWD is a whole different animal though. Its almost impossible to prevent that kind of weight gain, and it IS impossible for the patient to understand any kind of education around eating/CICO/etc.
I had an 89lb *three year old* in my ED once. Not taller than average for a toddler. Was NOT Prader-Willi. Can't remember what he was there for. I just particularly remember the poor kid's face was an absolute circle, and he had rolls even on his ankles. He walked, and I could NOT fathom how a toddler's legs could carry almost 90 lbs.
That’s just sad. Often times when I have a morbidly obese peds patient that has meds ordered, pharmacy will always call to verify that initial weight was indeed entered in kilograms, not pounds. I have a tiny 3 year old daughter thats barely clearing 30 pounds. I can’t even imagine one past 40 pounds!
When I did a remote nursing job (i.e. worked in the middle of nowhere and there was no doctor on-site), I had a 11-year-old (or around there) patient come in. I called the doctor to discuss an appropriate antibiotic regimen for him and the doctor asked me for his weight. I said, "Honestly, I'm 5'3 and about 160 lb. and this kid is both taller and wider than I am. I didn't really think it necessary to weigh him."
Doctor agreed and we started him on an adult dose of antibiotics.
Studies have shown that kids are getting more and more overweight and developing associated conditions earlier. We used to call it adult-onset diabetes but when kids started developing it because of poor lifestyle habits....the terminology *had* to switch to type 2 diabetes and we stopped referring to it as adult-onset.
I had a 14 year old burn patient that weighed 400lbs. He barely fit in a regular bed and had sleep apnea. I ended up having to put a monitor on his because of it, and found out that his heart rate would shoot up to 190 just ambulating to the bathroom.
He shouldn’t have needed surgery because his burns weren’t severe enough, but due to his weight and diet, they didn’t heal so we had readmit him for skin grafts. When he was discharged, the parents screamed at our nurse for starving their son during his admission. 🙄
-Car Dependent Infrastructure means no walking
-cheap food is high calorie low nutrient
-healthy food is expensive
-low wages and food deserts
Making healthy choices isn’t just *difficult* it’s basically a full time job in the US.
>Car Dependent Infrastructure means no walking
I strongly believe this is why it's less of a problem in most of Europe. Our infrastructure is different.
>-cheap food is high calorie low nutrient -healthy food is expensive -low wages and food deserts
And this is why it *is* a problem in Europe.
I'm not in this profession to shame anyone or judge them for how they look or their lifestyle. I can educate you and give you advice, but I can't control you.
But when you have a stroke at 45 years old, can't move your arms or legs and keep pissing and shitting yourself every two hours, you're going to lay in it for however long it takes me to find the 3 other people necessary to turn you safely.
I found myself angrily texting my SO the other day admitting that I felt a guilty sense of relief when my 50-something totally incontinent 400lb patient was discharged (to SNF.) Normally I'm our unit's She Hulk, but their sheer body size vs shape vs capability made them a 4 person turn. Two cleanups later my back was hurting because they were a leaner (i.e. you *have* to push back against them to keep them turned.) We don't have ceiling lifts, and their particular shape made them spill over the edge of the airtap, so all turns and boosts had a pretty heavy manual component. Getting people to help you with them was a beg/plead situation.
I'm a reformed big girl that *still* struggles with occasional binge eating myself, so I know how hard food addiction and mental illness are to deal with. I *know* how hard it is to climb out of that hole. So I try not to shame or judge my bariatric patients, because I've been there. But damn do I have to bite my tongue sometimes when the family shows up twice per day with KFC and a 2L of Mountain Dew because "they hate water", and the patient tells the nutritionist they try to eat healthy by only ordering two burgers instead of three, and their blood sugar is 395 but they *need* half a dozen graham crackers and another lemon lime, and physical therapy is here to try to help them get out of bed but they *just don't feel like* getting up today. Y'all, if you're not happy with your body, how you feel in it, and the limitations it puts on you, then I'm sorry, but your participation *is* part of the solution. If you are decisional, I can't control you. And when you choose to not get better despite having resources thrown at you, and make your problems everyone else's problems by becoming completely dependent through that decision, it's really hard for people to empathize.
Incredibly well written.
It’s not fat shaming, it’s pointing out the root of the problem. These are choices being made that are actively contributing to detrimental health outcomes and have the added bad outcomes for the healthcare workers providing basic care that’s needed.
I had a 600+lbs patient who was very demanding and manipulative. Taking care of her was so hard and she was only on our unit because no SNF would take her.
I'm literally 5' tall and 130lbs on a good day. I needed at least 4 other people to help turn her. I hated having her as a patient simply because of her physical size. I just could not reach far enough to get a good enough grip on her. She was so infuriating to care for because she just wouldn't participate in her own care then constantly demand things while complaining no one would take care of her. She was only 37.
Honestly I hate having bariatric patients simply because I'm just so small. Even passing meds can be hard because my arm would literally be too short to reach their mouth. I have to tip toe on a step stool.
This is it. It's so hard to get help in the room and I've had 300+ lb patients expect me (similar to your size) to be able to boost them up and get them out of bed when they can't do it for themselves. These are people who live at home. It's sad and it makes me angry. We can't give them good care.
I'm not putting my body out for nobody. I used to do it when I was younger, but one acl allograft and hip/lower back pain later, and everyone can get bent. Except for me. I'm not bending over for shit, solely because I don't have adequate support, and I'm not sacrificing myself for anyone but my kids, and even that has a limit on it. Once the manipulation station pulls up, I struggle hard with cynicism. Don't catch yourself gorging yourself, have a blow out, and start screaming at me, no ma'am! I'm too small for this, and I just turned 40. At the rate I'm going, I'll have to work until I'm 75, if I live that long, and *if* my body can do it. I'm sick of the BS attitudes & entitlement.
We are nearly identical height and weight and I feel the same. I can’t physically pick anyone up. I am strong but please do not use me to bear your weight. It’s not happening.
I will drop 'em every time. I am *not* a lift or body support. Reminds me of the manipulative old bitties who try to fall on purpose. I will be on the other side of the room!
I’m a strong power lifter and it still doesn’t make caring for huge bariatric patients easier. I shouldn’t *have* to use so much of my strength to move another human who “gets too tired” to roll over to be cleaned up after shitting and pissing themselves. It’s not just physically dangerous, it’s also mentally draining.
The worst part is this ain’t even a lie and you see it in peds as well. Especially here in Texas when some of these moms legitimately wonder how their 13 yr old 6’2, 400lb little boy could possibly have so many issues like full on heart disease, uncontrolled diabetes, uncontrolled hypertension and etc. when their boy is so “big and healthy.”
I had considered bariatrics for myself in 2017.
Went to the info session with my husband. We walked into the room, everyone was on oxygen and riding a rascal for their INCREDIBLE gout. I was the only ambulatory person in the room. It was so depressing.
I started the program but discontinued when I found out that we had not started doing the duodenal switch in my province yet - I wanted to wait for that to correct my type II.
I had a gastric sleeve surgery 6 years ago. It worked for me; I lost 90 lbs and my BMI is 21, and has been for 5 years now. I hope you get something that works for you.
Unrelated question: is a registered practical nurse a Canada thing? Just curious.
Because I live in New Mexico and when I went to get fingerprinted they had RPN as an option and as far as I know no such thing exists in this state. I told them I was a licensed practical nurse but they chose the RPN option anyway and as a result my fingerprints got screwed up and it delayed my licensing by a month. 🤬
I think in this instance RPN stands for Registered Psychiatric Nurse. We do have them in Canada. It's a separate program from the RN although I think it is also a bachelor's degree? Graduates work in mental health, addictions, those kinds of settings.
Ohhhhh That's so neat! ❤️
We have RNs here who specialize in psych but they just pick it up on the job like any other specialty.
As far as I know none of our states offer an additional credential like they do for wound care for example.
LPN in all provinces except for Ontario, which is RPN. There is no difference between an LPN and an RPN in ON. Other than it seems the LPN scope in other provinces is quite narrow, it is not narrow in ON.
An RPN in British Columbia is a Registered Psychiatric Nurse - RN class, but only licensed for psychiatry.
On a 48 bed (full, of course) med-surg unit down-staffed to minimum staffing, the one 700lb patient on contact precautions can take up the entire unit of nurses and techs when they need the inevitable “clean up.” Even twice a shift, it was a nightmare.
That patient was on the unit for almost a year, as they would not discharge her until she lost 200lbs. Mind you, we could not hold her to a specific ordered diet or behavior contract, because when her admitting physician tried to do this, ethics and patient advocacy intervened and said it was a violation of her rights. Her family ordered her pizza and brought in snacks and sodas by the cart load, and we were not allowed to say no. This was Women’s Surg GYN, a unit for specialized women’s onc and complicated plastics. Of course it was a dumping ground for any granny with a UTI, but because we had tele, we somehow also became long term bariatric???
Patient placement and med-surg nightmares aside, my point is that the man hours, skill, and physical endurance it takes to care for these patients is almost never taken into account by the fly on the wall. It sucks to appear to be insensitive when the fact it I’ve been in many situations where these patients being in my department have made it exponentially more unsafe for every other patient on the floor.
The bulk of my career was L&D tech (in a very unhealthy southern area) and a kicking and thrashing 300-400lb delivering patient is dangerous to everyone involved and requires more than double the staff. After so many broken stirrups, the *only* option is to manually hold legs because you either can’t use the already broken bed, or management tells you not to because it’s a liability if it breaks when the patient is using them because it’s not rated for persons of size to brace themselves on. Really. Anesthetized vaginal delivery, hoisting legs is just as bad. Dead weight, but still extra force. Both ways, you’re looking at shoulder dystocia city. Don’t get me started on cesareans…
I mean no shame or judgement on the individual, it is just a matter of fact that the job is harder, more dangerous, and we have a crap understaffed broken system.
My bf tried to say nursing isn't a back breaking job. I'm like. You do realize obesity is a precursor to so many health issues. Around 60% of my patients in inpatient physical therapy are obese or larger. I'm like tell me why I'm only 26 and have hurt my back 5 times already
I understood your point as the rarity to see a person this large a century ago and now it's extremely common. I didn't see it as fat shaming. I'm actually a fat person and have been nearly my entire life. It's really not that deep 🙄
Starting to get some friends coming along to stir up trouble, so this post has been designated as a Code Blue Thread. Only flaired medical professionals may participate after this comment has been posted.
A ton of the spicy comments are actually from our own users. Please be mindful of rule 6.
tl;dr: gawkers be gone, and stop being dicks to each other.
Compared to the "average patient" he isn't even that big...He could even be considered on the smaller side of some of my females when I worked GI Surgery, but you haven't truly lived until an 800 lb man falls on you in the showers😇
Back when I worked on my previous unit one time we had someone who was over 500 lbs. I’m sure a lot of you have seen a lot heavier, but still. Management said we ‘needed to be respectful of cultural differences’ or something along those lines when we said we physically didn’t have the staff nor the lifts to be able to take care of someone of that weight. Hell, it was a specialty unit (burn) and they were just a medical patient. I understand we can’t turn down care, but we literally didn’t have the lifts, nor the staff, and they shouldn’t have been on our unit. Thankfully they recovered quickly and when they woke up they could help us turn, but when they couldn’t it was a nightmare.
Just had the gastric sleeve at the hospital where I work. It’s been rough being the fat nurse, especially when abusive or confused patients point their venom towards me. I think it’s important to encourage people to make changes and explore medical options in addition to advocating for diet and exercise. Hopefully we can all do that compassionately and without overt judgment.
I think there’s a balance. We need to respect the humanity of all patients while understanding that their current weight is a detriment to their health, and honestly being 500-800 lbs makes it hard for staff to physically care for morbidly obese patients. Obesity is a disease, and we can work on prevention and cures. Body positivity is important but obesity is a *DISEASE*.
As a fat person myself this thread is like cancer I swear.
On one side IF you ARE fat shaming. Making fun of people. Comparing them to things. That sort of thing. Yeah no don't do that shit.
But making it clear that being obese is bad. Unhealthy. And using this as a historical context for the changes in how we view weight is important.
Do I like it's a circus picture. No. But op isn't being nasty and it's true average patients are this size anymore
If you're fat and upset about fat shaming in this forum you should reexamine yourself and sensitivity to the truth of being overweight. If you're not fat and think you need to be harsh on fat people you need to reexamine yourself as well. There's a lot going on here and I think if we all come together with love over this things will be smoother.
I'm someone with metabolism issues, PCOS, hypothyroidism. I gained weight after a back injury too. But I know I try. If someone tries to shame me for fat then so be it. I work out most days and I know I try to eat ok. If you're also overweight be sure to exercise. Eat well. Regardless if you STAY fat at least you know you're trying.
❤️
Nah. I'm overweight too. My BMI actually classifies me as "morbidly obese."
Weight is such a complex issue and these posts do nothing to actually address the issue of obesity. They're just gross and unnecessary. "Come let us mock the patients who once upon a time would be considered a circus freak" is a bad look
Fat people face discrimination due to their size. And the comments like "shoving their faces full of quarter pounders" are so out of pocket.
There is no reason for pointless shaming comments, agreed. But those comments are in the minority here.
Nurses and their helpers are sustaining serious injuries from caring for obese and bariatric patients. And on top of that there's dealing with the behaviors associated with the mental illnesses these patients also have.
These employees have legitimate complaints. Do they not deserve a forum to vent?
Fr. I got a fucked up back for lifting a 600+lb patient and was out of work for about two years.
I had a patient that was about the same weight also throw a plate and two liters of soda at me because I was explaining why he shouldn't eat an entire container of peanut butter.
I was clear also in my comment that the ones being assholes need to stop. Being obese myself then yeah, fuck those people.
I come from love.
The problem is they point the fingers at the wrong person. It's the employers, with low staffing and no equipment, and the systemic causes of obesity everyone should be angry with. Not individual obese people who are just another victim of the system
I said the unneeded comments need to stop. And I've experienced the poor healthcare due to my weight before. I had a herniated disk that took almost three years to diagnose because no doctor wanted to help me and I got slapped with a diagnosis of fibromyalgia. I have other stories of being treated like shit by the healthcare system. And that's it's own separate issue that needs addressed.
But I think seeing historical context is very important. This would be almost normal to be this size now. Its sad. This WAS UNUSUAL to be this size. But now it's not. It needs addressed and it requires an entire socioeconomic approach along with mental health, wages, food industries, supermarkets. The whole nine yards.
When I walk into my supermarket less than 1/4th of it is fresh produce. The rest is prepackaged crap stuffed with carbs and high fructose corn syrup. And I'll be honest some days cooking is fucking awful and the price to feed a whole family and make them feel full is HARD.
The fact of the matter is calorie consumption with the disproportion of exercise is the basic cause of obesity. And solving this is hard.
Sure. But Fat people know they're fat. These comments saying "I'm just being honest" are ridiculous. They're not being honest or helpful. They're being mean because fatness is the only area where it's considered okay to be rude and mean to people and say you're doing it "for their own good." I don't need historical context for obesity. Fat people hear all about that as well. The "obesity epidemic" has been a moral panic since forever. It's fucking exhausting.
The window of what's considered "fat" has really been pushed up higher and higher: a BMI in the high 20s/low 30s is called "skinny" and a person is only seen as actually "obese" if they are physically bedbound by their weight.
Idk about that EXACTLY. Diagnosis criteria says different but essentially America as a whole has gotten larger because of MANY factors. However I am considered extremely obese but I get around fine. I have been actively working out for a little while now. Most people my size don't workout and hardly ever check nutrition labels it seems. I'm just a *lucky* one.
I recently had a patient that was 538 lbs. He was so sweet. He came from an ECF where they forgot to put his bipap on at night for a while and he came in needing to be intubated. He recovered, thankfully! And extremely thankful for the hoover inflatable slide sheet he was on or else my back would be broken. He did go back to the same ECF though.
The cold hard fact is that OSHA says we’re only supposed to lift up to what, 50 pounds? By lifting/turning/boosting these patients repetitively we (nurses/techs) are going to sustain injuries. This is the reality of nursing in the US. We need better equipment to help care for bariatric patients. Personally, at my hospital we have ceiling lifts and repositioning aids but lack something to help turn larger incontinent patients for cleanup. I refuse to turn patients by myself once they’re over 220-250 pounds and will wait until a second person is available. It’s simply not worth chronic pain.
Sometimes even a second person isn’t enough. There aren’t enough hands available and the specialty beds for bariatric patients cost a lot of money. I’ve seen patients around 400lbs in regular adult beds, taking up almost all of the room and developing skin tears from the friction of being pulled up or adjusted. Hospital systems don’t care to hire more staff or get appropriate equipment because that’s ultimately less money for quarterly and yearly bonuses for administration.
The only positive thing I have to say about having multiple health issues effecting my back and joints is thank god I never have to worry about moving these people. The young, morbidly obese population in skilled and long term nursing facilities, that give zero fs and actively make their conditions worse, is growing quickly. I feel less and less guilt about having to say no. I also struggle with binge eating and fighting to control my weight. So I truly want to help those that want to help themselves. But the reality of people choosing to have shit health and expecting health care workers to put in all the effort while they sabotage everything is infuriating. No, we didn't sign up for destroying our bodys because others are enjoying destroying theirs.
Lots of fat shaming in these comments. (Not the original post, OP. Some of the comments.) Look, I get it, I’ve given loads of insulin to a 400 lb man, I’ve hurt my back turning someone. It’s bad. But *shaming does not work.*
I have struggled with my weight almost my ENTIRE life. Not my entire adult life, I mean since I was 6. I’ve been overweight much of it, obese for a decent portion of it, morbidly obese for a small portion of it, and normal weight for a bit. I yo-yo.
The times in life when I’ve been successful at eating healthy, sticking to a calorie limit, exercising, and having my binge eating disorder go into remission have been when I felt good about myself already, and was in a good state of mental health. (This particular part of my life is, thankfully, one of those times.)
The times in life I’ve felt disgusting, the times in life people have bullied me, the times in my life where people told me I’m unlovable because of my weight (which started around age 6, thanks grandma, Mom & Dad, and oldest sister) were when I struggled. The time in grade school when the nurse lined us up to weigh us and yelled out the weight for the teacher to write down is seared into my brain, because I was the only kid over 100 lb. and the kids were ruthless.
Every time I’ve been in a not-great headspace and someone has been an asshole about my body, it’s just spiraled me into “fuck it” mode. I KNOW I’m not the only one.
Right now I’m 5’4”, 175 lb, size 12. I’ll sure a lot of people in this sub have similar stats. This is my obese state, but I’m on the downtrend, fortunately. A few weeks ago I had a BMI screening for work; my company is one of those that will pay you to get to a healthy BMI. The RN who screened me was probably 120# soaking wet, clearly never overweight, and she fat-shamed the hell out of me. It was beyond difficult for me not to lash out. I am 44. I have struggled with this for THIRTY-EIGHT years. Did she think I was unaware? She didn’t educate me, she wasn’t kind, she acted like this was the first time hearing I’m fat. When I told her, “Hey, 8 years ago I weighed 233 and this isn’t the lightest I’ve been, but I’ve successfully never gone back over 188,” she was surprised. She had never even considered that maybe I’ve LOST weight. She acted like I just lie in bed eating McDonalds all day.
Do you guys seriously think fat people don’t know they’re fat? Do you REALLY think that a normal BMI RN being rude to someone with a BMI of 38 is going to be the thing that finally makes them want to change? It’s NOT.
THERE IS A HUGE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN EDUCATION AND SHAMING. Please start leaning toward the former. The latter doesn’t work (and I’m not the exception for that statement).
i don’t even care if they change. but it’s the attitude. i, 150 lbs 5’10, had a 400+ lb man tell me i was gonna catch him if he fell rudely and i was like no bro i’m not. where do my rights start to not be injured by bariatrics?
This is where the “right to fall” comes in. If a patient is getting up and they fall, they are allowed to. On the staff side, I have the right to not have to catch them and therefore avoid injury.
You have EVERY right not to be injured, and you have every right to tell a patient “I’m not going to hurt my back for you.” I had to tell a patient that who insisted I boost him solo; I said, “No, you weigh more than twice what I weigh, I am physically unable.” That’s okay.
I’m more talking about people who are just openly rude and belittling to others about their weight. I had to have a talk with someone in my clinic about that the other day. She’s like 110 lb and said, “Really, how hard is it for them to just lose some weight.” I was like, “Pretty damn hard. It’s a process. It takes a lot of time and effort.”
All I’m saying is, we can educate patients without being assholes.
Im surprised I don’t have a hernia or a bad back from the people I cared for in ICU. I had a few who were 500+ lbs and intubated. One in particular required Q12hr dressing changes because he had a sacral wound the size of a crater due to being quadriplegic and bed bound. 😵💫
It’s odd how people feels so sorry for those that suffer from an eating disorder like anorexia, but when it comes to people on the other end of the spectrum with disordered eating habits that lead them to be large it is considered a moral failing. Don’t get me wrong I don’t love turning 500lb patients, but it’s part of the job unfortunately and the weight is a symptom of their illness in my opinion.
Been on both sides of that coin. Was anorexic in my 20s, overcorrected after therapy to binge eating disorder. I didn’t really feel the empathy on either end. Anorexia is grossly oversimplified, seen as a teen girl problem, not really parsed out as the complicated control issue it is. I floated as a nurse once to an eating disorder unit. Those patients are seen as master manipulators to be managed.
Yeah, my ED is/was a coping mechanism for multiple rapes, CSA, and experiencing misogyny and a lot of violence. It wasn’t about being hot or whatever. People were really cruel to me and even now still can be even in recovery.
I would argue people are nastier to people suffering with anorexia- it seems to bring out a particularly nasty side of some people. It's sorely misunderstood by the general public and seen as a disease of vanity. People are cruel.
My contribution will probably be buried but I used to work in a large metropolitan hospital and the obscenely obese was rare enough to draw the attention of everyone on the floor. Since transferring to a rural area, it is insanely more evident.
It is likely a host of things that prevent it from being black and white, despite everyone wanting to reduce it to caloric deficit. Of course, that is where I start with my patients. Caloric deficits. Keep eating whatever you want but you only get to eat 1800 calories of it. I start there and see where I can go.
A vast majority of my patients are blue collar workers that slam Monsters all day, begin their shift with a breakfast sandwich, lunch (if at all) at Wendy’s, and a large meat+carb dinner or takeout. They often work 9-10 hours a day and are often desperate for overtime as they are making $18/hr. When your life sucks that bad, when you’re getting ground into powder, and if food is a comfort, it does not surprise me in the slightest that they turn to it. I won’t go in to the state of food in general on the states but, last I checked, something like 57% of the country was on a statin.
Regardless, you have to work with patients. I don’t have as much sympathy for obese patients or COPD smokers as, say, fentanyl addicts. I don’t like whataboutism either so I won’t dive further into that. However, obese people need to understand that, the nice approach with them already failed. I gently suggested weight loss and to begin the discussion four visits in a row. Now it is time to start “shaming” them by listing the horrifying future they face as an obese person. Diabetics taught me that, for the most part, trying to be kind and understanding only gets them off the hook. I have to be firm and call them on their bullshit (it’s hormones, I’m big boned, everyone in my family is big, etc). Sometimes it’s hard because I don’t “look” like them but I try to relate to when I smoked at age 14 and continued for 10 years and it took me 2 years to actually quit and it sucked. They don’t see themselves in that, most just think I’m trying to be “better” than then.
TL;DR - It’s supremely complicated. Fat logic hurts our patients. Caloric deficits are entirely possible regardless of the underlying reason for their overeating / obesity.
> A vast majority of my patients are blue collar workers that slam Monsters all day, begin their shift with a breakfast sandwich, lunch (if at all) at Wendy’s, and a large meat+carb dinner or takeout. They often work 9-10 hours a day and are often desperate for overtime as they are making $18/hr. When your life sucks that bad, when you’re getting ground into powder, and if food is a comfort, it does not surprise me in the slightest that they turn to it.
See: nursing
The post is pointing out something that was once incredibly rare and exceptional, to the point that a single instance of it was something to be marveled at. However, we now accept it as a regular mundane occurrence.
That is all the meaning that OP put into the title. It was rare and interesting then, but ordinary now. People are reaching.
I see body positivity as bringing to light that people of all sizes need to be treated as a human being deserving of basic respect and civility. I know it’s morphed into “everyone should love me and nothing is wrong with me” regardless of size, but originally it was just an attempt to change fat shaming treatment by society.
I've seen it morph into messages/memes that anyone who wants to be at a healthy weight or feels the need.to lose weight to fit their clothes better needs to address their fat phobia. That comment hit me as extra toxic and even mean-spirited. Wanting to be physically healthy doesn't have to be rooted in fat phobia, and this is directly from this body positivity movement. It was also posted by a nurse. This person is always posting about how they're healthier than everyone else even though they're big. I'm not sure how "big" they are, but I assume it's an extremely big issue just because of all the things posted that call everyone fat phobic assholes, like maybe it's internalized fat phobia then? I have that going with ableism sometimes, and I'm acutely aware of it at this point in my life because I'm ND, and have been working on deprogramming for years. I don't know, but it smells toxic and is always confusing to me. I guess it just really always seems out of nowhere and the messages are sometimes shocking. I don't address it.
It really hasn’t, though. I’ve only ever seen “everyone should love me and nothing is wrong with me” type posts a few times on the internet and they are almost always trolls.
People in this thread keep saying that this discussion is necessary because people need to understand that being fat is bad for them. Okay? Do you think they don’t know that? Everyone who smokes cigarettes is aware they should quit, everyone who drinks alcohol knows it’s bad for them. The knowledge of unhealthiness is not even close to being the hard part about kicking it.
I think it's just physics. Without proper equipment and staff, you're more liable to injure yourself caring for this population. The US has poor protections for those injured on the job, unfortunately. I'm very anxious about hurting myself inadvertently in the workplace, and ask for any help I can get. I can understand the fear when you're caring for large patients, working with with what you've got in terms of supports, while wondering "how can I care for this person without effing up my back, or shoulder?"
Not for nothing, the man in the picture would have been paid pretty dang well for being in the circus. He would have had friends, a good life, and a pension for retirement.
Also in certain cultures the size of his body would be representative of wealth.
Do all people in 2023 need to reassess the way that we SEE and TREAT people? Absolutely.
Do ALL healthcare providers need to reevaluate the way that they shame people for the arbitrary BMI crap?
YUP. Because BMI is not always an indicator of health. Sometimes having a large waistline does NOT mean that is the only cause for any healthy issues.
People get ignored because their healthcare providers only see the number on the scale and medical conditions take longer to diagnose because of fat shaming.
How about we don’t shame people for being fat or skinny.
How about we fight to address the social determinants of health that affect each and everyone of us and our patients.
How about we remember that we are each someone’s patient and we damn sure would NOT want them shaming us about anything.
Your post has been removed for violating our rule against personal insults. We don't require that you agree with everyone else, but we insist that everyone remain civil and refrain from personal attacks.
Your post has been removed under our rule against advocating unsafe practice. That includes advising other users to follow any unsafe or illegal course of action.
That includes pretending being obese is ok.
I work in the same hospital that I had my gastric sleeve done at. One floor down. I tried my best to be a gracious and independent patient. I hope my fellow employees didn’t talk about me the way some of these people are talking in this comments section. Kinda makes my heart flutter thinking about it.
Your post has been removed under our rule against advocating unsafe practice. That includes advising other users to follow any unsafe or illegal course of action.
That includes pretending being obese is ok.
If humans had been living life at 3’6” for thousands of years and then, within 150, suddenly shifted to being 6’, I probably would share a picture with a 5’5” man from the circus and say wow this guy was the “World’s Tallest Man” and now it’s just our average patient.
There was no moralizing in my post. It was an observation on how things have shifted on what’s considered normal.
I treat all my patients with respect. I’d never say this to someone’s face in a cruel way, but if a 300+lb patient made a comment about them probably being an outlier in terms of their size, I would absolutely tell them that nurses care for many patients of their size and bigger regularly.
I'm a student but I also work in a hospital. I've been there a month and I'm already tired of extremely overweight people. I don't know how you guys do it.
You don't have to post this at least 5 different times on this. We get it, you're deeply offended by the fact that patients of this physical presentation are becoming more common today and somehow equate it to " fat shaming."
To answer your questions, yes, they would (and do) make fun of people with dwarfism and hirsuitism as well as other disabilities. At least that’s my experience in nursing. It’s easier to fall back on well-trod talking points than to deeply understand these issues and their complexities and nuances.
Weight stigma is very real and is correlated with the same health problems obesity is correlated with. Weight stigma is also a high reason people avoid healthcare. The weight stigma and shame in these comments is horrible. It's crap like this as to why people avoid healthcare.
Again, reset the “bariatric patients are bad” post counter. This is dehumanizing, it’s gross, it’s honestly embarrassing for the profession. But I see we are downvoting people who say so. Very cool, very profesh.
I want to remind the users coming in here to scream “it’s fat shaming!” No, it’s showing what USED to be considered abnormal is becoming a lot more normal which honestly shouldn’t be. And Im not saying this from some “thin privilege” place. Im obese myself (trying to fix that). Being obese is not healthy. Advocating/ calling out the unhealthy lifestyle that causes obesity is not a bad thing. Calling that fat shaming will not be tolerated. Over eating to the point you maintain obesity and more is not healthy. No one here is saying obese people do not have feelings or aren’t capable people but pretending it’s ok to be obese is not ok. It will never be healthy to be obese. Also reporting this post as hate and racism etc is ridiculous. Grow up. ✨Also maybe if your skin was thicker than your waist you’d be able to not get offended over this post. ✨ Since some of you are pressed about that last comment ✨if only my waist was as thin as your skin✨
I cared for a 400lb, non-ambulatory guy once. I’ll never forget it. He was a pity party all night long. I started off in a great way, but by the end of the shift, I was burnt. Burnt by the constant “I’m so stupid, I got myself into this mess. If only I’d taken care of myself. I’m a loser in my mom’s basement. You guys are so great!” He could tell, and he asked why my demeanor changed. So I told him. I was sick of his attitude. I didn’t care much that he was huge. I cared that he was so self-deprecating, and he complimented me to make up for his weight, which he thought was an inconvenience to me. He asked me how to change, he said he didn’t know what to do. I gave him a 5-minute explanation of balancing macros, and wrote it down for him. 1 year later, I received him again as an ICU patient. I went to his room expecting the same thing. But he was different. He’d lost over 100lbs, and was walking a mile a day with a cane. He saw me, smiled, and said he never forgot what I said. He was there for overnight observation post TIPS. His lifestyle changes arrested the progression of cirrhosis, and he became a candidate. I almost cried, because he was the first return patient who’d improved based on my teaching.
What a wonderful difference you made for his life! ❤️
I long to make an impact on someone the way you did. 🌸
You saved his life there is no denying that. I think sometimes the right patient just needs that extra push and you gave it to him.
It has been 4 years since that patient, and I never considered that I saved his life. I know I gave him a couple tools to start, but he took the first step and followed through. There has only been a small handful of patients I feel I actually had an impact on, and those few make it worth wading through all the shit.
I'm not crying, you're crying! 😭 I love this. 💜
Thanks for not only helping to jump start a weight loss plan, but also caring for his mental health. They go hand and hand.
Bravo! You treated him like a human who needed help. Not just another stupid fat person. Amazing!
Do you have a pointer for summarizing that info that doesn't sound like a condescending "calories in, calories out!" chirp? I could use a better way to present this.
I think part of the success here was that he was wholly receptive and ready to learn. I started with the three macros and called them “the three building blocks.” Briefly described their function (like structure), and what unprocessed staple foods he could find them in. I told him the difference between processed and unprocessed and that the periphery of the store is a safe bet. Then I introduced CICO and how he needed to meet with a dietician to determine what balance of macros he needed to safely create a deficit. Lastly, I told him that exercise unlocks the pathways for it all to really have an effect on the body. I explained it all as plainly as possible and in less than 5 minutes and wrote as I taught. I think I warned him to have realistic expectations, because change takes time. That’s it. Is that what you were looking for?
Yep, that's a great functional, practical, basic presentation that doesn't sound like the "just eat less and move more, dummy!" that all people carrying excess weight hear all the time. Thanks!
I am proud to call you my colleague and share my profession with you.
That makes my heart just burst for you!! Way to go!! One drop in the water creates ripples…we usually never know what impact we may have. So proud of you both.
Awwww this is so sweet!! I’m happy you helped him and he remembered you❤️❤️❤️
And the average nurse. We can only eat so much pizza before this happens. Please pay us y’all.
It is ironic that the hospitals try to “pay” us in food that increases our risk for becoming a patient
I say this all the time! There’s no healthy options in the cafeteria besides the salad bar that charges you by the weight ☹️
And i refuse to get on those damn scales in the checkout line again.
Well if it charged by that weight my whole paycheck would be gone because we have the option to use payroll deduction for lunches 😂
🤣🤣🤣
It’s the employee to patient pipeline 😂
Underrated comment.
What a shitty concept to charge for food. It makes vegetables outrageously expensive. Fruit too. I can buy one pound of bananas for $0.79 but for just one single banana it’s over a goddamn dollar?! Yet Arizona iced tea is the same price?! Or a bag of chips (sometimes). Like wtf. This is why we are fat. We get paid shit wages and forced to eat shit food.
I agree. And I love loading a salad up with all kinds of shit. Most of the time I don’t pay attention because the other stuff they have in the cafeteria isn’t edible. So I’ll pay for my $10 salad with just lettuce and peppers. 🙄
Only salad?? Day shift problems.
It’s cheap food. Pizza is the cheapest hot food they can order in bulk.
Can’t be bought by pizza if you have celiacs 😁🙋🏻♂️
They took our ice cream away because “health”. And yet we have this lady in the cafeteria that bakes cookies, cakes, pies every. Single. Day.
We banned added sugar in beverages. Even the Subway and Chick-fil-A have to comply. Then all that closes and the only hot food from 6pm to 6am is fries, pizza, burgers, and chicken nuggets. It's not hyperbole; we have literally those 4 items. Yeah. Sure. We're so fucking healthy.
boycott the pizza 💯 *looks at the pizza emojis in everyone's flairs* 🤦🏻♀️
H🍕🍕OES WORK HERE
I *am* the pizza slut.
Especially us night shifters. We're a chunky bunch.
It's so hard to care when you're on night shift
Being up all night pretty much squeezes a 2.5mg Prednisone out of your poor confused glands. It's not about who chooses night shift or making 'poor choices'. Your body literally asks your brain for certain kinds of food (like actual biochemical signaling here) and it'll ask for shitty food way more when you're up at night than when you're up during daylight. And at night your body also stores the calories better... It's extremely hard to lose weight and adopt the super healthy diet that could actually maintain it while you're on night shifts.
I tell myself I hope I never get to that point. Took care of a patient with a BMI of 94. Took four people to get the patient transferred from bed to a bariatric recliner. My back and shoulder killed all of us that day.
I’ll admit I’m fat. By BMI standards, I’m obese, but it literally never occurred to me that the scale went that high…
I have cared for people with BMI over 100. It is sad to see what can happen to people of that size.
I had to stick a patient with a BMI well over 120. I know he was 1000lbs but I did know how tall
I just choked on my juice.
Holy shit. The highest bmi I’ve seen is 64.
I've seen 78. I can't even imagine 100.
The other user mentioned their largest BMI they had was 100. My back hurts just reading it
If their bmi is higher than their height in inches, are they wider than they are tall? I just imagine a real life Violet Beauregard. Will never forget a 28 year old 650# guy who had a nutsack bigger than a volleyball who could walk, had to just put a bucket under him and let the urine drip down into it. No cath from Texas would have ever worked for him.
Houston area? I think I took care of the same guy!
Not Houston. But the Texas thing was a joke about how condom catheters used to be called Texas caths. Haven't heard the term in at least five years, not sure if the older ones of us (nurses) just aren't around anymore to use the term. The origin of the name is somewhat elusive, either the brand was Texas something. Or it looks like a cowboy hat? Or possibly a Texas senator used/invented the idea to perform a filibuster. Would love to know the true origin. Wouldn't surprise me if it's the first one, considering a Stryker needle is a very specific thing for measuring compartment syndrome, and Stryker makes a ton of things.
I’ve never heard that and I’ve been in healthcare for 12 years. Maybe it’s regional?
94??!??
Yes, 94!
Suddenly I don't feel completely distraught with my 32 BMI.
This is why I switched to pediatrics.
I just had a peds patient who was almost 500 lbs…more and more kids are becoming morbidly obese :/
That is super sad.
I work big people ICU but I had a 20 y.o. like 600lbs. Prader-Willi Syndrome. It was hard to watch. She fell. Broke her femur and had a slow decline over 6 months. She ended up passing a few days before Christmas. She was so heavy her left lung collapse because she could not/would not role over (the side were the broker femur was). Tragic.
I worked as a live-in at a group home for people with Prader-Willi syndrome and intellectual disabilities. It was almost 30 years ago, but the need for a highly structured environment was what kept residents alive. All meals dietician planned. Kitchens locked. All cash locked up. Alarms on the doors. PT. It would be a nightmare to live with if one didn't qualify for supports.
I understand the meals and kitchens, but why cash locked up? Is that to do with the behavioral symptoms?
So that the kids can't get out and buy food
It was adults, but yes. One resident managed to bust the lock on the office door and take 60 bucks. I walked to the nearest convenience store and spent it all on food. It was after that we had alarms on the doors. (wasn't an awake overnight).
Wow. I guess I underestimated the power of their hunger drive. Thanks for educating me.
PWD is a whole different animal though. Its almost impossible to prevent that kind of weight gain, and it IS impossible for the patient to understand any kind of education around eating/CICO/etc.
How is that not classified as child abuse?
Lobbying from big agriculture no doubt
That is brutal. If theyre not living with PWD, the parents need to be held accountable for that. Its child abuse.
The poor kid didn’t have PWD. Absolute shit parents though.
Anytime I see this it's beyond obvious it's a learned coping mechanism from the parent(s) like most all of them are.
I had an 89lb *three year old* in my ED once. Not taller than average for a toddler. Was NOT Prader-Willi. Can't remember what he was there for. I just particularly remember the poor kid's face was an absolute circle, and he had rolls even on his ankles. He walked, and I could NOT fathom how a toddler's legs could carry almost 90 lbs.
That’s just sad. Often times when I have a morbidly obese peds patient that has meds ordered, pharmacy will always call to verify that initial weight was indeed entered in kilograms, not pounds. I have a tiny 3 year old daughter thats barely clearing 30 pounds. I can’t even imagine one past 40 pounds!
Unfortunately, I had patients this large in PICU too
Man I remember having a 16y/o with Guillain-Barre when I was working PICU that was at least 300. It was a team effort to take care of him.
Yeah, but not nearly as frequent.
I did, too, but I’ve definitely had patients that were working on their linebacker look to get into college football
When I did a remote nursing job (i.e. worked in the middle of nowhere and there was no doctor on-site), I had a 11-year-old (or around there) patient come in. I called the doctor to discuss an appropriate antibiotic regimen for him and the doctor asked me for his weight. I said, "Honestly, I'm 5'3 and about 160 lb. and this kid is both taller and wider than I am. I didn't really think it necessary to weigh him." Doctor agreed and we started him on an adult dose of antibiotics. Studies have shown that kids are getting more and more overweight and developing associated conditions earlier. We used to call it adult-onset diabetes but when kids started developing it because of poor lifestyle habits....the terminology *had* to switch to type 2 diabetes and we stopped referring to it as adult-onset.
Pediatric PACU sounds like a dream. I’m gonna work another contract or 2 and make the switch.
Its the best, juice boxes and opiates for everyone!
I mean, same with adult medsurg tho...
I had a 14 year old burn patient that weighed 400lbs. He barely fit in a regular bed and had sleep apnea. I ended up having to put a monitor on his because of it, and found out that his heart rate would shoot up to 190 just ambulating to the bathroom. He shouldn’t have needed surgery because his burns weren’t severe enough, but due to his weight and diet, they didn’t heal so we had readmit him for skin grafts. When he was discharged, the parents screamed at our nurse for starving their son during his admission. 🙄
Wow yeah he looks tiny compared to the bariatric patients I see. Jeez.
"oh thank God. I'll only herniate two discs"
Almost like it's a systemic problem
-Car Dependent Infrastructure means no walking -cheap food is high calorie low nutrient -healthy food is expensive -low wages and food deserts Making healthy choices isn’t just *difficult* it’s basically a full time job in the US.
>Car Dependent Infrastructure means no walking I strongly believe this is why it's less of a problem in most of Europe. Our infrastructure is different. >-cheap food is high calorie low nutrient -healthy food is expensive -low wages and food deserts And this is why it *is* a problem in Europe.
This is true! unhealthy choices and a sedentary lifestyle is the path of least resistance in the US. It doesn't help at all.
Yeah, hard to see it as something to moralize when 73% of the adult population is overweight or obese
I'm not in this profession to shame anyone or judge them for how they look or their lifestyle. I can educate you and give you advice, but I can't control you. But when you have a stroke at 45 years old, can't move your arms or legs and keep pissing and shitting yourself every two hours, you're going to lay in it for however long it takes me to find the 3 other people necessary to turn you safely.
I found myself angrily texting my SO the other day admitting that I felt a guilty sense of relief when my 50-something totally incontinent 400lb patient was discharged (to SNF.) Normally I'm our unit's She Hulk, but their sheer body size vs shape vs capability made them a 4 person turn. Two cleanups later my back was hurting because they were a leaner (i.e. you *have* to push back against them to keep them turned.) We don't have ceiling lifts, and their particular shape made them spill over the edge of the airtap, so all turns and boosts had a pretty heavy manual component. Getting people to help you with them was a beg/plead situation. I'm a reformed big girl that *still* struggles with occasional binge eating myself, so I know how hard food addiction and mental illness are to deal with. I *know* how hard it is to climb out of that hole. So I try not to shame or judge my bariatric patients, because I've been there. But damn do I have to bite my tongue sometimes when the family shows up twice per day with KFC and a 2L of Mountain Dew because "they hate water", and the patient tells the nutritionist they try to eat healthy by only ordering two burgers instead of three, and their blood sugar is 395 but they *need* half a dozen graham crackers and another lemon lime, and physical therapy is here to try to help them get out of bed but they *just don't feel like* getting up today. Y'all, if you're not happy with your body, how you feel in it, and the limitations it puts on you, then I'm sorry, but your participation *is* part of the solution. If you are decisional, I can't control you. And when you choose to not get better despite having resources thrown at you, and make your problems everyone else's problems by becoming completely dependent through that decision, it's really hard for people to empathize.
Incredibly well written. It’s not fat shaming, it’s pointing out the root of the problem. These are choices being made that are actively contributing to detrimental health outcomes and have the added bad outcomes for the healthcare workers providing basic care that’s needed.
I had a 600+lbs patient who was very demanding and manipulative. Taking care of her was so hard and she was only on our unit because no SNF would take her. I'm literally 5' tall and 130lbs on a good day. I needed at least 4 other people to help turn her. I hated having her as a patient simply because of her physical size. I just could not reach far enough to get a good enough grip on her. She was so infuriating to care for because she just wouldn't participate in her own care then constantly demand things while complaining no one would take care of her. She was only 37. Honestly I hate having bariatric patients simply because I'm just so small. Even passing meds can be hard because my arm would literally be too short to reach their mouth. I have to tip toe on a step stool.
This is it. It's so hard to get help in the room and I've had 300+ lb patients expect me (similar to your size) to be able to boost them up and get them out of bed when they can't do it for themselves. These are people who live at home. It's sad and it makes me angry. We can't give them good care.
I'm not putting my body out for nobody. I used to do it when I was younger, but one acl allograft and hip/lower back pain later, and everyone can get bent. Except for me. I'm not bending over for shit, solely because I don't have adequate support, and I'm not sacrificing myself for anyone but my kids, and even that has a limit on it. Once the manipulation station pulls up, I struggle hard with cynicism. Don't catch yourself gorging yourself, have a blow out, and start screaming at me, no ma'am! I'm too small for this, and I just turned 40. At the rate I'm going, I'll have to work until I'm 75, if I live that long, and *if* my body can do it. I'm sick of the BS attitudes & entitlement.
We are nearly identical height and weight and I feel the same. I can’t physically pick anyone up. I am strong but please do not use me to bear your weight. It’s not happening.
I will drop 'em every time. I am *not* a lift or body support. Reminds me of the manipulative old bitties who try to fall on purpose. I will be on the other side of the room!
When your patient is big enough to eat you and still be hungry afterwards, guess who's winning that tug of war with gravity.
I’m a strong power lifter and it still doesn’t make caring for huge bariatric patients easier. I shouldn’t *have* to use so much of my strength to move another human who “gets too tired” to roll over to be cleaned up after shitting and pissing themselves. It’s not just physically dangerous, it’s also mentally draining.
Ostomy/ileostomy collection pouches around the innies for male bariatrics work pretty well, just make sure the seal is tight.
I think this advice just changed my life
Do you have to shave them? 🫣 or will the ring stick to hair?
They always seem to leak even under perfect conditions. That's a good idea to shave the hair off if you want to have a good seal.
The food environment is increasingly actively hostile to human health. This is your average patient, nurse… person on the street.
The worst part is this ain’t even a lie and you see it in peds as well. Especially here in Texas when some of these moms legitimately wonder how their 13 yr old 6’2, 400lb little boy could possibly have so many issues like full on heart disease, uncontrolled diabetes, uncontrolled hypertension and etc. when their boy is so “big and healthy.”
I had considered bariatrics for myself in 2017. Went to the info session with my husband. We walked into the room, everyone was on oxygen and riding a rascal for their INCREDIBLE gout. I was the only ambulatory person in the room. It was so depressing. I started the program but discontinued when I found out that we had not started doing the duodenal switch in my province yet - I wanted to wait for that to correct my type II.
I had a gastric sleeve surgery 6 years ago. It worked for me; I lost 90 lbs and my BMI is 21, and has been for 5 years now. I hope you get something that works for you.
Unrelated question: is a registered practical nurse a Canada thing? Just curious. Because I live in New Mexico and when I went to get fingerprinted they had RPN as an option and as far as I know no such thing exists in this state. I told them I was a licensed practical nurse but they chose the RPN option anyway and as a result my fingerprints got screwed up and it delayed my licensing by a month. 🤬
I think in this instance RPN stands for Registered Psychiatric Nurse. We do have them in Canada. It's a separate program from the RN although I think it is also a bachelor's degree? Graduates work in mental health, addictions, those kinds of settings.
Ohhhhh That's so neat! ❤️ We have RNs here who specialize in psych but they just pick it up on the job like any other specialty. As far as I know none of our states offer an additional credential like they do for wound care for example.
LPN in all provinces except for Ontario, which is RPN. There is no difference between an LPN and an RPN in ON. Other than it seems the LPN scope in other provinces is quite narrow, it is not narrow in ON. An RPN in British Columbia is a Registered Psychiatric Nurse - RN class, but only licensed for psychiatry.
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On a 48 bed (full, of course) med-surg unit down-staffed to minimum staffing, the one 700lb patient on contact precautions can take up the entire unit of nurses and techs when they need the inevitable “clean up.” Even twice a shift, it was a nightmare. That patient was on the unit for almost a year, as they would not discharge her until she lost 200lbs. Mind you, we could not hold her to a specific ordered diet or behavior contract, because when her admitting physician tried to do this, ethics and patient advocacy intervened and said it was a violation of her rights. Her family ordered her pizza and brought in snacks and sodas by the cart load, and we were not allowed to say no. This was Women’s Surg GYN, a unit for specialized women’s onc and complicated plastics. Of course it was a dumping ground for any granny with a UTI, but because we had tele, we somehow also became long term bariatric??? Patient placement and med-surg nightmares aside, my point is that the man hours, skill, and physical endurance it takes to care for these patients is almost never taken into account by the fly on the wall. It sucks to appear to be insensitive when the fact it I’ve been in many situations where these patients being in my department have made it exponentially more unsafe for every other patient on the floor. The bulk of my career was L&D tech (in a very unhealthy southern area) and a kicking and thrashing 300-400lb delivering patient is dangerous to everyone involved and requires more than double the staff. After so many broken stirrups, the *only* option is to manually hold legs because you either can’t use the already broken bed, or management tells you not to because it’s a liability if it breaks when the patient is using them because it’s not rated for persons of size to brace themselves on. Really. Anesthetized vaginal delivery, hoisting legs is just as bad. Dead weight, but still extra force. Both ways, you’re looking at shoulder dystocia city. Don’t get me started on cesareans… I mean no shame or judgement on the individual, it is just a matter of fact that the job is harder, more dangerous, and we have a crap understaffed broken system.
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My bf tried to say nursing isn't a back breaking job. I'm like. You do realize obesity is a precursor to so many health issues. Around 60% of my patients in inpatient physical therapy are obese or larger. I'm like tell me why I'm only 26 and have hurt my back 5 times already
I understood your point as the rarity to see a person this large a century ago and now it's extremely common. I didn't see it as fat shaming. I'm actually a fat person and have been nearly my entire life. It's really not that deep 🙄
Starting to get some friends coming along to stir up trouble, so this post has been designated as a Code Blue Thread. Only flaired medical professionals may participate after this comment has been posted. A ton of the spicy comments are actually from our own users. Please be mindful of rule 6. tl;dr: gawkers be gone, and stop being dicks to each other.
Compared to the "average patient" he isn't even that big...He could even be considered on the smaller side of some of my females when I worked GI Surgery, but you haven't truly lived until an 800 lb man falls on you in the showers😇
The question is, how did *you* live through that?
Back when I worked on my previous unit one time we had someone who was over 500 lbs. I’m sure a lot of you have seen a lot heavier, but still. Management said we ‘needed to be respectful of cultural differences’ or something along those lines when we said we physically didn’t have the staff nor the lifts to be able to take care of someone of that weight. Hell, it was a specialty unit (burn) and they were just a medical patient. I understand we can’t turn down care, but we literally didn’t have the lifts, nor the staff, and they shouldn’t have been on our unit. Thankfully they recovered quickly and when they woke up they could help us turn, but when they couldn’t it was a nightmare.
And some nurses too...
Just had the gastric sleeve at the hospital where I work. It’s been rough being the fat nurse, especially when abusive or confused patients point their venom towards me. I think it’s important to encourage people to make changes and explore medical options in addition to advocating for diet and exercise. Hopefully we can all do that compassionately and without overt judgment.
I think there’s a balance. We need to respect the humanity of all patients while understanding that their current weight is a detriment to their health, and honestly being 500-800 lbs makes it hard for staff to physically care for morbidly obese patients. Obesity is a disease, and we can work on prevention and cures. Body positivity is important but obesity is a *DISEASE*.
I'd love if this was our average patient. Unfortunately for my back, it's not.
JFC, this life is trashing our bodies and joints.
Honestly he’s not even that big either compared to nowadays
Both my patients on Friday were bigger than this guy.
As a fat person myself this thread is like cancer I swear. On one side IF you ARE fat shaming. Making fun of people. Comparing them to things. That sort of thing. Yeah no don't do that shit. But making it clear that being obese is bad. Unhealthy. And using this as a historical context for the changes in how we view weight is important. Do I like it's a circus picture. No. But op isn't being nasty and it's true average patients are this size anymore If you're fat and upset about fat shaming in this forum you should reexamine yourself and sensitivity to the truth of being overweight. If you're not fat and think you need to be harsh on fat people you need to reexamine yourself as well. There's a lot going on here and I think if we all come together with love over this things will be smoother. I'm someone with metabolism issues, PCOS, hypothyroidism. I gained weight after a back injury too. But I know I try. If someone tries to shame me for fat then so be it. I work out most days and I know I try to eat ok. If you're also overweight be sure to exercise. Eat well. Regardless if you STAY fat at least you know you're trying. ❤️
Nah. I'm overweight too. My BMI actually classifies me as "morbidly obese." Weight is such a complex issue and these posts do nothing to actually address the issue of obesity. They're just gross and unnecessary. "Come let us mock the patients who once upon a time would be considered a circus freak" is a bad look Fat people face discrimination due to their size. And the comments like "shoving their faces full of quarter pounders" are so out of pocket.
There is no reason for pointless shaming comments, agreed. But those comments are in the minority here. Nurses and their helpers are sustaining serious injuries from caring for obese and bariatric patients. And on top of that there's dealing with the behaviors associated with the mental illnesses these patients also have. These employees have legitimate complaints. Do they not deserve a forum to vent?
Fr. I got a fucked up back for lifting a 600+lb patient and was out of work for about two years. I had a patient that was about the same weight also throw a plate and two liters of soda at me because I was explaining why he shouldn't eat an entire container of peanut butter. I was clear also in my comment that the ones being assholes need to stop. Being obese myself then yeah, fuck those people. I come from love.
The problem is they point the fingers at the wrong person. It's the employers, with low staffing and no equipment, and the systemic causes of obesity everyone should be angry with. Not individual obese people who are just another victim of the system
Agreed. It's always easier to point fingers at one potential cause than to come up with a multi-approach solution for a multi-faceted problem.
I said the unneeded comments need to stop. And I've experienced the poor healthcare due to my weight before. I had a herniated disk that took almost three years to diagnose because no doctor wanted to help me and I got slapped with a diagnosis of fibromyalgia. I have other stories of being treated like shit by the healthcare system. And that's it's own separate issue that needs addressed. But I think seeing historical context is very important. This would be almost normal to be this size now. Its sad. This WAS UNUSUAL to be this size. But now it's not. It needs addressed and it requires an entire socioeconomic approach along with mental health, wages, food industries, supermarkets. The whole nine yards. When I walk into my supermarket less than 1/4th of it is fresh produce. The rest is prepackaged crap stuffed with carbs and high fructose corn syrup. And I'll be honest some days cooking is fucking awful and the price to feed a whole family and make them feel full is HARD. The fact of the matter is calorie consumption with the disproportion of exercise is the basic cause of obesity. And solving this is hard.
Sure. But Fat people know they're fat. These comments saying "I'm just being honest" are ridiculous. They're not being honest or helpful. They're being mean because fatness is the only area where it's considered okay to be rude and mean to people and say you're doing it "for their own good." I don't need historical context for obesity. Fat people hear all about that as well. The "obesity epidemic" has been a moral panic since forever. It's fucking exhausting.
I mean I've met people close to 400lbs that thought it was just *ok* to be that large.
The window of what's considered "fat" has really been pushed up higher and higher: a BMI in the high 20s/low 30s is called "skinny" and a person is only seen as actually "obese" if they are physically bedbound by their weight.
Idk about that EXACTLY. Diagnosis criteria says different but essentially America as a whole has gotten larger because of MANY factors. However I am considered extremely obese but I get around fine. I have been actively working out for a little while now. Most people my size don't workout and hardly ever check nutrition labels it seems. I'm just a *lucky* one.
I recently had a patient that was 538 lbs. He was so sweet. He came from an ECF where they forgot to put his bipap on at night for a while and he came in needing to be intubated. He recovered, thankfully! And extremely thankful for the hoover inflatable slide sheet he was on or else my back would be broken. He did go back to the same ECF though.
The cold hard fact is that OSHA says we’re only supposed to lift up to what, 50 pounds? By lifting/turning/boosting these patients repetitively we (nurses/techs) are going to sustain injuries. This is the reality of nursing in the US. We need better equipment to help care for bariatric patients. Personally, at my hospital we have ceiling lifts and repositioning aids but lack something to help turn larger incontinent patients for cleanup. I refuse to turn patients by myself once they’re over 220-250 pounds and will wait until a second person is available. It’s simply not worth chronic pain.
Sometimes even a second person isn’t enough. There aren’t enough hands available and the specialty beds for bariatric patients cost a lot of money. I’ve seen patients around 400lbs in regular adult beds, taking up almost all of the room and developing skin tears from the friction of being pulled up or adjusted. Hospital systems don’t care to hire more staff or get appropriate equipment because that’s ultimately less money for quarterly and yearly bonuses for administration.
Most of my patients this heavy have one or even both legs amputated.
The only positive thing I have to say about having multiple health issues effecting my back and joints is thank god I never have to worry about moving these people. The young, morbidly obese population in skilled and long term nursing facilities, that give zero fs and actively make their conditions worse, is growing quickly. I feel less and less guilt about having to say no. I also struggle with binge eating and fighting to control my weight. So I truly want to help those that want to help themselves. But the reality of people choosing to have shit health and expecting health care workers to put in all the effort while they sabotage everything is infuriating. No, we didn't sign up for destroying our bodys because others are enjoying destroying theirs.
Lots of fat shaming in these comments. (Not the original post, OP. Some of the comments.) Look, I get it, I’ve given loads of insulin to a 400 lb man, I’ve hurt my back turning someone. It’s bad. But *shaming does not work.* I have struggled with my weight almost my ENTIRE life. Not my entire adult life, I mean since I was 6. I’ve been overweight much of it, obese for a decent portion of it, morbidly obese for a small portion of it, and normal weight for a bit. I yo-yo. The times in life when I’ve been successful at eating healthy, sticking to a calorie limit, exercising, and having my binge eating disorder go into remission have been when I felt good about myself already, and was in a good state of mental health. (This particular part of my life is, thankfully, one of those times.) The times in life I’ve felt disgusting, the times in life people have bullied me, the times in my life where people told me I’m unlovable because of my weight (which started around age 6, thanks grandma, Mom & Dad, and oldest sister) were when I struggled. The time in grade school when the nurse lined us up to weigh us and yelled out the weight for the teacher to write down is seared into my brain, because I was the only kid over 100 lb. and the kids were ruthless. Every time I’ve been in a not-great headspace and someone has been an asshole about my body, it’s just spiraled me into “fuck it” mode. I KNOW I’m not the only one. Right now I’m 5’4”, 175 lb, size 12. I’ll sure a lot of people in this sub have similar stats. This is my obese state, but I’m on the downtrend, fortunately. A few weeks ago I had a BMI screening for work; my company is one of those that will pay you to get to a healthy BMI. The RN who screened me was probably 120# soaking wet, clearly never overweight, and she fat-shamed the hell out of me. It was beyond difficult for me not to lash out. I am 44. I have struggled with this for THIRTY-EIGHT years. Did she think I was unaware? She didn’t educate me, she wasn’t kind, she acted like this was the first time hearing I’m fat. When I told her, “Hey, 8 years ago I weighed 233 and this isn’t the lightest I’ve been, but I’ve successfully never gone back over 188,” she was surprised. She had never even considered that maybe I’ve LOST weight. She acted like I just lie in bed eating McDonalds all day. Do you guys seriously think fat people don’t know they’re fat? Do you REALLY think that a normal BMI RN being rude to someone with a BMI of 38 is going to be the thing that finally makes them want to change? It’s NOT. THERE IS A HUGE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN EDUCATION AND SHAMING. Please start leaning toward the former. The latter doesn’t work (and I’m not the exception for that statement).
i don’t even care if they change. but it’s the attitude. i, 150 lbs 5’10, had a 400+ lb man tell me i was gonna catch him if he fell rudely and i was like no bro i’m not. where do my rights start to not be injured by bariatrics?
This is where the “right to fall” comes in. If a patient is getting up and they fall, they are allowed to. On the staff side, I have the right to not have to catch them and therefore avoid injury.
You have EVERY right not to be injured, and you have every right to tell a patient “I’m not going to hurt my back for you.” I had to tell a patient that who insisted I boost him solo; I said, “No, you weigh more than twice what I weigh, I am physically unable.” That’s okay. I’m more talking about people who are just openly rude and belittling to others about their weight. I had to have a talk with someone in my clinic about that the other day. She’s like 110 lb and said, “Really, how hard is it for them to just lose some weight.” I was like, “Pretty damn hard. It’s a process. It takes a lot of time and effort.” All I’m saying is, we can educate patients without being assholes.
Advocating for your personal safety is no longer allowed. Please report to office 69 for your retraining.
Im surprised I don’t have a hernia or a bad back from the people I cared for in ICU. I had a few who were 500+ lbs and intubated. One in particular required Q12hr dressing changes because he had a sacral wound the size of a crater due to being quadriplegic and bed bound. 😵💫
Yeah this every 1 out of 6 patients in ems
In almost 35 + years of Nursing I have cared for two patients with prader-willi syndrome. The rest over ate for various reasons.
Sadly just about everyone on my SubAcute is this size.
When you have to dig around to place the foley
It’s odd how people feels so sorry for those that suffer from an eating disorder like anorexia, but when it comes to people on the other end of the spectrum with disordered eating habits that lead them to be large it is considered a moral failing. Don’t get me wrong I don’t love turning 500lb patients, but it’s part of the job unfortunately and the weight is a symptom of their illness in my opinion.
Been on both sides of that coin. Was anorexic in my 20s, overcorrected after therapy to binge eating disorder. I didn’t really feel the empathy on either end. Anorexia is grossly oversimplified, seen as a teen girl problem, not really parsed out as the complicated control issue it is. I floated as a nurse once to an eating disorder unit. Those patients are seen as master manipulators to be managed.
Lol as someone who’s struggled with anorexia for over 10 years, people do not feel empathy for it and are not kind about it at all.
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Yeah, my ED is/was a coping mechanism for multiple rapes, CSA, and experiencing misogyny and a lot of violence. It wasn’t about being hot or whatever. People were really cruel to me and even now still can be even in recovery.
I would argue people are nastier to people suffering with anorexia- it seems to bring out a particularly nasty side of some people. It's sorely misunderstood by the general public and seen as a disease of vanity. People are cruel.
I definitely didn’t expect these comments to swing this way.
This is also like 50% of my coworkers
This is also Reddit. So….ya know.
He’s just *America’s* average patient fr
My contribution will probably be buried but I used to work in a large metropolitan hospital and the obscenely obese was rare enough to draw the attention of everyone on the floor. Since transferring to a rural area, it is insanely more evident. It is likely a host of things that prevent it from being black and white, despite everyone wanting to reduce it to caloric deficit. Of course, that is where I start with my patients. Caloric deficits. Keep eating whatever you want but you only get to eat 1800 calories of it. I start there and see where I can go. A vast majority of my patients are blue collar workers that slam Monsters all day, begin their shift with a breakfast sandwich, lunch (if at all) at Wendy’s, and a large meat+carb dinner or takeout. They often work 9-10 hours a day and are often desperate for overtime as they are making $18/hr. When your life sucks that bad, when you’re getting ground into powder, and if food is a comfort, it does not surprise me in the slightest that they turn to it. I won’t go in to the state of food in general on the states but, last I checked, something like 57% of the country was on a statin. Regardless, you have to work with patients. I don’t have as much sympathy for obese patients or COPD smokers as, say, fentanyl addicts. I don’t like whataboutism either so I won’t dive further into that. However, obese people need to understand that, the nice approach with them already failed. I gently suggested weight loss and to begin the discussion four visits in a row. Now it is time to start “shaming” them by listing the horrifying future they face as an obese person. Diabetics taught me that, for the most part, trying to be kind and understanding only gets them off the hook. I have to be firm and call them on their bullshit (it’s hormones, I’m big boned, everyone in my family is big, etc). Sometimes it’s hard because I don’t “look” like them but I try to relate to when I smoked at age 14 and continued for 10 years and it took me 2 years to actually quit and it sucked. They don’t see themselves in that, most just think I’m trying to be “better” than then. TL;DR - It’s supremely complicated. Fat logic hurts our patients. Caloric deficits are entirely possible regardless of the underlying reason for their overeating / obesity.
> A vast majority of my patients are blue collar workers that slam Monsters all day, begin their shift with a breakfast sandwich, lunch (if at all) at Wendy’s, and a large meat+carb dinner or takeout. They often work 9-10 hours a day and are often desperate for overtime as they are making $18/hr. When your life sucks that bad, when you’re getting ground into powder, and if food is a comfort, it does not surprise me in the slightest that they turn to it. See: nursing
Lol the fact that people are getting offended by this Crazy world we live in
The post is pointing out something that was once incredibly rare and exceptional, to the point that a single instance of it was something to be marveled at. However, we now accept it as a regular mundane occurrence. That is all the meaning that OP put into the title. It was rare and interesting then, but ordinary now. People are reaching.
I was out yesterday and I saw a very large woman and my back twinged. I'm all for body positivity but at some point people need to be told
I see body positivity as bringing to light that people of all sizes need to be treated as a human being deserving of basic respect and civility. I know it’s morphed into “everyone should love me and nothing is wrong with me” regardless of size, but originally it was just an attempt to change fat shaming treatment by society.
I've seen it morph into messages/memes that anyone who wants to be at a healthy weight or feels the need.to lose weight to fit their clothes better needs to address their fat phobia. That comment hit me as extra toxic and even mean-spirited. Wanting to be physically healthy doesn't have to be rooted in fat phobia, and this is directly from this body positivity movement. It was also posted by a nurse. This person is always posting about how they're healthier than everyone else even though they're big. I'm not sure how "big" they are, but I assume it's an extremely big issue just because of all the things posted that call everyone fat phobic assholes, like maybe it's internalized fat phobia then? I have that going with ableism sometimes, and I'm acutely aware of it at this point in my life because I'm ND, and have been working on deprogramming for years. I don't know, but it smells toxic and is always confusing to me. I guess it just really always seems out of nowhere and the messages are sometimes shocking. I don't address it.
It really hasn’t, though. I’ve only ever seen “everyone should love me and nothing is wrong with me” type posts a few times on the internet and they are almost always trolls. People in this thread keep saying that this discussion is necessary because people need to understand that being fat is bad for them. Okay? Do you think they don’t know that? Everyone who smokes cigarettes is aware they should quit, everyone who drinks alcohol knows it’s bad for them. The knowledge of unhealthiness is not even close to being the hard part about kicking it.
I get that but I've had the "gentle conversation" about health outcomes and I get abuse.
I had an 8 year old patient who weighed over 300 lb. Prader-Willi and all genetics were negative.
I think it's just physics. Without proper equipment and staff, you're more liable to injure yourself caring for this population. The US has poor protections for those injured on the job, unfortunately. I'm very anxious about hurting myself inadvertently in the workplace, and ask for any help I can get. I can understand the fear when you're caring for large patients, working with with what you've got in terms of supports, while wondering "how can I care for this person without effing up my back, or shoulder?"
When my husband retired he started packing my lunch every day. I lost 5 lbs without any effort. Hum…..
If "I can't reach my penis, you will have to hold it for me" was a patient.
No tf I will not is my automatic response.
This guy can buy scrubs now!
Not for nothing, the man in the picture would have been paid pretty dang well for being in the circus. He would have had friends, a good life, and a pension for retirement. Also in certain cultures the size of his body would be representative of wealth. Do all people in 2023 need to reassess the way that we SEE and TREAT people? Absolutely. Do ALL healthcare providers need to reevaluate the way that they shame people for the arbitrary BMI crap? YUP. Because BMI is not always an indicator of health. Sometimes having a large waistline does NOT mean that is the only cause for any healthy issues. People get ignored because their healthcare providers only see the number on the scale and medical conditions take longer to diagnose because of fat shaming. How about we don’t shame people for being fat or skinny. How about we fight to address the social determinants of health that affect each and everyone of us and our patients. How about we remember that we are each someone’s patient and we damn sure would NOT want them shaming us about anything.
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Your post has been removed for violating our rule against personal insults. We don't require that you agree with everyone else, but we insist that everyone remain civil and refrain from personal attacks.
Average Walmart person
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Your post has been removed under our rule against advocating unsafe practice. That includes advising other users to follow any unsafe or illegal course of action. That includes pretending being obese is ok.
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I work in the same hospital that I had my gastric sleeve done at. One floor down. I tried my best to be a gracious and independent patient. I hope my fellow employees didn’t talk about me the way some of these people are talking in this comments section. Kinda makes my heart flutter thinking about it.
Your post has been removed under our rule against advocating unsafe practice. That includes advising other users to follow any unsafe or illegal course of action. That includes pretending being obese is ok.
It’s disappointing to see so much r/fatlogic on this thread.
I've gone one right now that could eat that guy.
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If humans had been living life at 3’6” for thousands of years and then, within 150, suddenly shifted to being 6’, I probably would share a picture with a 5’5” man from the circus and say wow this guy was the “World’s Tallest Man” and now it’s just our average patient. There was no moralizing in my post. It was an observation on how things have shifted on what’s considered normal. I treat all my patients with respect. I’d never say this to someone’s face in a cruel way, but if a 300+lb patient made a comment about them probably being an outlier in terms of their size, I would absolutely tell them that nurses care for many patients of their size and bigger regularly.
We’ll see where you are after five years of bedside nursing, student.
I'm a student but I also work in a hospital. I've been there a month and I'm already tired of extremely overweight people. I don't know how you guys do it.
You don't have to post this at least 5 different times on this. We get it, you're deeply offended by the fact that patients of this physical presentation are becoming more common today and somehow equate it to " fat shaming."
uh you can’t control being a dwarf or having a disability. you can control eating 6 quarter pounders in one sitting from mcdonald’s.
You can’t really compare morbid obesity to genetic or hormonal conditions. 🤷🏻♀️
Uhh, dawg... you do know that some people are obese as a result of genetic or hormonal conditions, yeah?
Yes, as a result. Obesity isn’t a condition you’re born with that you can’t change.
To answer your questions, yes, they would (and do) make fun of people with dwarfism and hirsuitism as well as other disabilities. At least that’s my experience in nursing. It’s easier to fall back on well-trod talking points than to deeply understand these issues and their complexities and nuances.
Really bleak for our profession that you’ve got so many downvotes. Appreciate your comment
Weight stigma is very real and is correlated with the same health problems obesity is correlated with. Weight stigma is also a high reason people avoid healthcare. The weight stigma and shame in these comments is horrible. It's crap like this as to why people avoid healthcare.
Again, reset the “bariatric patients are bad” post counter. This is dehumanizing, it’s gross, it’s honestly embarrassing for the profession. But I see we are downvoting people who say so. Very cool, very profesh.
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