Monitoring the health of critical care nurses: Are you up to the challenge?

Abstract

I surely don't represent any paragon of preventive healthcare, although I do represent a group of critical care nurses whose dereliction of personal responsibility for monitoring and managing their own health has been documented back to at least 1992.3 That said, with the average age of registered nurses in the United States now approaching 47 years,4 with more than 70% of AACN members now 40 years and older, and 36% of us already 50 or older,5 any day is a good day to modify our behavior for the better. So kudos to those of you who truly do exemplify the best in preventive personal care. As for the rest of us who fall somewhere short of optimal in that area, take the Critical Care Nurse challenge and start monitoring your health more diligently and consistently. Beyond the obvious personal benefits of living longer and better, you'll be doing your part to maintaining the number of working and wonderful critical care nurses at the highest possible.