Should Nurses Be Role Models for Healthy Living?

Kathy L. Rush, PhD, RN, at the University of British Columbia Okanagan in Canada, is doing research on whether or not nurses should be role models for healthy practices. Her work challenges the notion that nurses should follow healthy behaviors to be effective role models.

“Whether we believe patients should or should not view nurses as role models for a healthy lifestyle, the simple truth is that many patients do expect nurses to guide by example,” said Tamara Walker, RN, a pediatric nurse in Edmond, Oklahoma.

According to this article, patients are more likely to listen and follow the instructions of a nurse who is modeling the health habits and behaviors they need to develop themselves.

What do you guys think? Should nurses and other health professionals be held to higher standards of healthy behaviors than the public? And if we had healthier nurses, would we have more healthy patients?