Are you a healthy lifestyle role model at work?

The American Nurses Association has announced its new HealthyNurse program is now available to all registered nurses. HealthyNurse strives to actively encourage RNs to become role models by living healthy lives on a physical, emotional, spiritual and social level.

In conjunction with Pfizer, the ANA encourages nurses to complete a comprehensive health risk appraisal (HRA), and upon completion will be able to compare their health to real-time data of their colleagues. This data can be grouped by categories including age or nursing specialty. Additionally, nurses will be able to access a “web wellness portal” with interactive games, quizzes and other resources.

HealthyNurse states that nurses setting a good example of good health are “choosing nutritious foods and an active lifestyle, managing stress, living tobacco-free, getting preventive immunizations and screenings, and choosing protective measures such as wearing sunscreen and bicycle helmets.”

The data also will look at safety in the workplace, which is a timely concern with the recent and tragic nurse stabbing incident in Texas. While much of the data collected by the survey is personal (which may be offputting to some nurses that see the form as another way to collect private data), learning more about safety in our workplaces may be a great aspect of this program.

Data collected on some beta testers of the initiative show that many nurses already are living healthy lifestyles. Of those early adopters of the program, 94 percent are in good to excellent health, less than 2 percent smoke cigarettes and 65 percent eat three or more servings of fruits and vegetables a day.

Would you take the survey? Do you live a healthy lifestyle? Do your colleagues? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.