How do they do it?

We all wonder. How do nurses keep from getting sick on the job? As a nurse, you鈥檙e already at a disadvantage by virtue of your occupational givens: irregular hours (which can equate to sleep deficit), relentless stress, and yes, regular exposure to germs. So what鈥檚 the secret? How do you stay healthy as a nurse?

The short answer is: You don鈥檛. Not always. Unless you鈥檝e made some kind of Faustian bargain (not recommended), you鈥檙e going to come down with the occasional cold, or flu, or some other ailment. And the new normal of Covid outbreaks and strains has exacerbated all of the demands of your job, and heightened your need to stay vigilant when it comes to your own health.

There鈥檚 no panacea, but there are ways to mitigate the risks. We made a list! Some of it might seem obvious (some of it is obvious), but we鈥檝e broken each strategy down with some specific whys and hows you might not have thought of, or know about.

The main strategy is this: Make your plan, be disciplined, and most importantly, be kind to yourself. Nobody鈥檚 perfect, and nobody stays perfectly healthy all the time. You won鈥檛 be able to care for your patients if you don鈥檛 take equal care of yourself.

1. Wash Your Hands (with the Right Soap)

Yes, you already know that frequent faucet visits are hygiene 101, but this one鈥檚 so important it would be weird not to include it. So let鈥檚 break this immunity imperative down: Are you using the right soap, for the right length of time, at the right cadence? Here鈥檚 a quick cheat sheet on for keeping your hands clean on and off shift:

• Antimicrobial soap: These soaps are supplemented with an antimicrobial agent like alcohol or triclosan, so they don鈥檛 just remove microorganisms, they kill them 鈥� and they can even continue to repel microbes for a while after you鈥檝e finished washing. The downside: Frequent use of antimicrobial soap may have a macro effect in contributing to resistant bacteria.
• Regular soap: For nurses in environments with ambulatory patients where there is a lower risk of passed infection, non-antimicrobial soap is perfectly adequate for handwashing. It鈥檚 also perfect for home hygiene, to help minimize the above-mentioned risk of bacterial resistance.
• Handrubs/sanitizers: Waterless hand disinfectants are an excellent alternative to antimicrobial or traditional soap, because they can disinfect between patients without requiring a trip to the washroom 鈥� you don鈥檛 always have time for one 鈥� and they鈥檙e easy to carry with you. But if your hands are visibly soiled, they鈥檙e not the best option, as they don鈥檛 actually remove material, since you don鈥檛 rinse.

One very important handwashing addendum that applies to all three of the above: If you鈥檙e washing your hands as often as you should on a nursing shift, you鈥檙e also drying your skin and compromising its natural defenses. For the go-to countermeasure, see tip 2:

2. Moisturize

Unfortunately, even if you do everything right in your hand hygiene routine, you could actually make things worse. Frequent, intense handwashing (the is 62 seconds per wash and washing after any contact with a patient or potentially contaminated surface) will dry out your hands and rinse away the oils and enzymes that are already providing some protection.

Worse yet, the dryness can lead to cracking, which makes your hands even more vulnerable to traveling flora. So moisturize. Keeping your hands hydrated will keep cracked knuckles at bay and invite your hands to produce more of their natural defenses. To take this measure a step further, you can invest in sleep gloves. One found that using moisturizing gloves was helpful and did not negatively affect biodome. And if gloves are uncomfortable for you overnight, as few as 20 minutes is effective as well.

3. Visit the Vitamin Aisle

The human immune system is miraculous, but not invincible. Keep yours in peak condition! Technically, you can get all the vitamins you need with the right diet, but realistically there鈥檚 a strong chance you don鈥檛. Recent data suggests 鈥� arguably the most important vitamin for immune health 鈥� hovers around 24% in the U.S., with severe deficiency around 6%. Deficiency is also highly common in zinc, another top immunity booster.

If your blood panels are up to date, you鈥檒l know if you have concerning deficiencies, but for all nurses (and patients), keeping a daily dose regimen will bolster your system for better defense. Vitamins D, C, B6, and E are all your friends when it comes to keeping healthy, and there鈥檚 a wealth of knowledge available online or through your doctor to tailor your supplement stash to your particular needs.

4. Plan for Food and Rest

Skipping meals and breaks might sometimes feel necessary in the moment. Don鈥檛 be noble. Be disciplined. Be a stern parent with yourself when it comes to nourishing and replenishing your body. For a nurse with a hectic schedule, this requires planning, and it requires boundaries.

Allot some time, every week, to plan for the next. Prep meals in advance if you can. We鈥檙e fans of the big batch. You don鈥檛 have to be an actuary about your nutritional intake, but make sure you鈥檙e going to hit all the marks, and make sure you know in advance where you鈥檙e going to get your three squares. Keep your fridge and cabinets stocked with easy options, so when you finish a long shift or night of studying, you don鈥檛 have to think about it.

There are tons of websites and apps that can help you plan and track your eating (and water intake) if that helps you stay on top of it. By all means, have a bag of chips, but if you鈥檙e always eating out of the vending machine, you鈥檙e not getting proper nutrition. If you鈥檙e not getting proper nutrition, you鈥檙e not giving your body what it needs to fend off germs.

Which brings us to breaks. This includes both work breaks and your off-duty sleep schedule. Don鈥檛 work through your breaks, and if you can avoid it, don鈥檛 use your breaks to deal with something else unless it鈥檚 urgent. Spend breaks as they鈥檙e intended: for physical and psychological rest. Sleep deprivation makes you extra vulnerable to getting sick. (Check out our tips for how to get the best sleep at home at home.)

Again, you know all this! Don鈥檛 just know it. Do it. It鈥檚 so important.

5. Recreation Not Wreck-reation

Let鈥檚 talk about the importance of fun! Because it鈥檚 very important to celebrate. Celebrate your successes, shake off your missteps, revel in everyday joy. Nursing is a serious profession 鈥� make time for the unserious. 鈥淟aughter is the best medicine鈥� is a cliche for the same reason most truisms are: it鈥檚 true. (Okay, well, it might be neck-and-neck with antibiotics. But you get the idea.) And there鈥檚 plenty of .

To lean into another overused phrase, there鈥檚 such a thing as 鈥渢oo much fun.鈥� And it鈥檚 tough when you鈥檙e a nurse with limited downtime because you might feel the impulse to cram in a lot of fun when free periods are few and far between. Reckless recreation can take many forms, from binge drinking with friends to staying up all night playing video games. Anything that requires a lot of recovery is going to tax your immune system.

This doesn鈥檛 mean you have to live like a monk. Nor does it mean the occasional overindulgence is off the table. Just consider when your next shift starts before you go all out, and always plan ahead (see tip #4) to put good sleep and healthy meals between your big night out and your next clock in, so your system has time to bounce back.

Bonus Tip: Educate Your Patients

Share your health-sustaining habits with the patients you interact with. They鈥檒l be better off, and so will you. Your office or facility might already have germ-safety rules like masking requirements in place, but a friendly reminder can go a long way when it comes to basic measures like handwashing and covering coughs and sneezes. Patients are stressed, too, and might forget to take care of themselves in simple ways while being treated for something more serious. If people aren鈥檛 following the rules, ask your employer what kind of interventions are available to keep the staff safe. We鈥檙e all in this together.

Again, there are no guarantees. If you do come down with something, all of the above still applies. Make sure you take care of yourself, and be responsible about taking sick days when you need them. Here鈥檚 to your health!

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