Nurse Wellness: Ergonomics, Nutrition, and Exercise on a 12-Hour Shift

As a nurse, you do an amazing job constantly ensuring each of your patients is as healthy as can be. But prioritizing your own health while taking care of everyone around you can sometimes feel overwhelming. Having practical strategies for maintaining your physical health while conducting your nursing responsibilities can not only optimize your own well-being, but make sure that you’re able to continue providing top-notch care to your patients. 

In this article, we’ll offer advice on how you can practice nurse wellness while working 12-hour shifts. Let’s explore tactics you can use daily to optimize the ergonomics of your work environment, eat healthy, and exercise even when things get busy.

Nurse Wellness: How to Stay Healthy on the Job

Nurse wellness is vital for all practitioners in the nursing field. When you maintain your own personal health, you give yourself the best chance of providing optimal patient care. But what does implementing a healthy lifestyle look like while working multiple long shifts in a row?

Ergonomic Tips for Nurses

As a nurse, you likely spend a lot of time making your patients physically comfortable and safe, such as by transitioning them securely from beds to wheelchairs. Thinking about your own physical posture and safety during the workday can help you stay in a physical condition that allows you to perform your nursing duties. That’s what ergonomics means: it’s a type of applied science that strives to adapt workplace conditions in a way that promotes good posture, musculature, circulation, and more.

Here are some ways that you can improve ergonomics as you move through your many nursing responsibilities:

1. Lift Patients with Care

Be sure to practice proper lifting techniques when transferring patients from wheelchairs, beds, or other surfaces. A correct lifting strategy includes making sure that you have firm footing, keep patients close to your body, and lift with a partner rather than solo. 

If your hospital or clinic offers mechanical assistive devices, you can use these to further reduce the potential strain on your back. Depending on your workplace facility, you might consider requesting some of these assistive devices, which can include:

• Transfer chairs
• Sliding boards
• Geriatric chairs
• Lateral transfer aids
• Gait belts
• Standing and repositioning lifts
• Bedding modifications

Best practices for lifting patients sometimes change as the field of ergonomics develops. Be sure to keep an eye on continuing education courses and note any developments that could help you lift patients more safely.

2. Set Up a Comfortable Workstation

In addition to spending lots of time with your patients, you probably also have many responsibilities that you perform at a computer, so make sure that your workstation is set up in a way that optimizes nurse wellness. Here’s a list of some strategies you can use to optimize the ergonomics of your desk or work space:

• Adjust your chair so that the back of the chair follows the natural curve of your spine and your feet can rest flat on the floor with your knees in line with your hips. If your feet don’t touch the floor with your hips and knees aligned, consider getting a footrest.
• Align your computer screen so that it’s about an arm’s length away from your face and the middle of the monitor is at eye-level. 
• Place your keyboard so your forearms rest at ninety-degree angles from your body and your wrists lie flat on the desk. 
• See if you can adjust the brightness and glare on your computer screen to reduce eye strain.
• Use a document holder to store your notes or other paper materials at your eye-level. This can reduce potential neck strain when you crane your head down to read notes.

3. Practice Good Standing Posture

When conducting your standing duties as a nurse, try to keep your hips aligned rather than leaning to one side. Feel the weight of your body pressing primarily through the center of your soles instead of your toes or heels. Try to minimize hunching your shoulders or spine when performing tasks like getting vital signs from patients.

4. Take Computer Breaks

If you find that you’re spending an hour or more at your workstation, be sure to take periodic breaks. It’s important to rest your eyes to reduce eye strain and to relax your wrists to avoid potential issues like carpal tunnel or repetitive strain injuries.

Practicing Good Nutrition as a Nurse

With busy long shifts, eating healthy while on the job as a nurse can feel like a challenge, but it doesn’t have to be. Planning ahead can help ensure that you’re able to fuel yourself for all your tasks with balanced meals.

1. Stay Hydrated

Bring a water bottle with you to ensure you’re drinking enough water throughout the day. If you get tired of the taste of plain water, you might want to try infusing it with fruit. Adding electrolyte powder to your water is also a great way to both change the taste and make sure you’re energized.

2. Prep Meals Ahead of Time

Prepare your meals when off-duty. Not only will this limit how much you eat potentially unhealthy meals at the cafeteria or vending machines, but it also will ensure that you can pack yourself meals dense with protein, fiber, and other vital nutrients. Consider batch-preparing multiple meals at once on your day off to save yourself time between multiple long shifts in a row.

3. Pack Snacks That Fuel You

We know that you may not always have time while on nursing duty to sit down for a full lunch break. That’s why we recommend packing energy-boosting snacks daily too so you’re prepared to maintain nurse wellness even when on the go. Snacks rich in protein, such as nuts or Greek yogurt, can help give you a quick boost without a sugar crash.

4. Enrich Your Body With Nutrients

Give your body adequate and diverse amounts of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. Incorporating superfoods such as berries, seeds, nuts, and leafy greens into your meals can help ensure that you’re getting enough nutrients. 

You might also consider taking dietary supplements to further enrich your diet or cover any potential nutrient gaps. The following is a list of supplements that can be good options for nurses with busy schedules:

• Multivitamins: Multivitamins typically offer an array of vitamins and minerals that can fill any gaps in your regular diet.
• Vitamin D supplements: Vitamin D supports both healthy bones and immunity systems. Since you likely spend most of your shifts indoors, this can be a vital vitamin to consume.
• Omega-3 fatty acids: Omega-3 fatty acids, such as those found in fish oil supplements, help maintain healthy eyes, hearts, and cognitive functions.

5. Eat Mindfully When Possible

We know that you may not always have time to actually rest during your lunch break, but when you do, give yourself permission to sit down and enjoy your meal. Not only will this break help you feel more refreshed when you return to work, but it will also promote better digestion. Eat mindfully, chewing and swallowing each bite before taking the next one.

Ways Nurses Can Exercise on 12-Hour Shifts

While you likely don’t have time for full exercise routines while you’re on the clock, there are strategies you can use to squeeze in exercise in-between performing your duties as a nurse. Even small movement breaks once or twice a day can improve your circulation, keep you healthy, and give you small boosts of energy. 

Here are some ways that you can fit in exercise while working your 12-hour shifts:

1. Perform Stretches

Perform stretches while at your workstation or in-between seeing patients. Many stretches, such as slow neck rolls or standing quad stretches, don’t require any equipment or much free space around you. In addition to improving your flexibility and loosening tight muscles, doing deep breathing exercises while you stretch can also relieve stress.

2. Walk the Corridors or Staircases

If you have time on your lunch break or between patients, walk a few loops through your facility’s hallways or up and down the staircases. This is a great way to get in a bit of extra cardio and steps during your nursing shifts. You could even run up and down the staircases to get your heart rate up, as long as you’re careful not to bump into anyone!

3. Do Desk or Standing Exercises

Perform quick, no-equipment exercises at your workstation or while standing. None of these exercises take much time, so even if you only have a few minutes, you could fit in a few reps and boost your strength. Consider conducting exercises such as:

• Squats
• Wall sits
• High knees
• Lunges
• Leg raises
• Jumping jacks
• Standing side crunches
• Calf raises
• Pushups where you put your hands on your chair or desk

Balancing Continuing Education Courses with Nursing Shifts

Working long nursing shifts, completing continuing education courses, and taking care of yourself all at the same time can feel like a lot, but it doesn’t have to be overwhelming. CE Ready’s courses are simple to register for, state-approved, and can be completed on a flexible schedule, so you have one less thing to stress about in your busy life. Take a look today at our course catalog for each state so you can make your path to nurse wellness easier.