Fitness is defined as a state of well-being. Fitness affects a person’s physical, mental and social health. Fit people are always ready to face challenges and opportunities that life offers, when compared to ‘not fit’ people. A person who is physically fit, has a body that can work efficiently and effectively. Physical fitness will help the person carry out activities at work and in personal life, and still have energy left to face emergency or enjoy leisure activities. As a nurse, I need to carry out a lot of physical activity. I walk, run and stand around a lot. Attending to each patient, involves a lot of movement, for which I need energy and need to remain physically fit. When, I loose fitness, I am too tired to offer the patient my complete dedication and commitment. This can affect my profession and for this reason, I have chosen ‘Fitness’ as the essential value that I want to improve on.
Exercising is one way of improving physical fitness. Physical fitness refers to the ability of the body to function effectively and efficiently. It is required for every day activity. Regular physical activity in the form of exercise offers health benefits as well. Along with good nutrition it can help improve posture, body mechanism and a person’s appearance. Physical fitness can help us contribute more to work and also provides energy to enjoy life. Nursing profession is a demanding job and being physically fit will provide the readiness and energy to act on emergencies that arise from day to day practice. Physical activity and exercise is beneficially in preventing depression. People who do regular exercise can perform better at work than depressed people.
The physical aspect of physical fitness can be broken down into components like: cardiovascular fitness, strength, muscular endurance, flexibility and body composition. Different jobs may require different level of physical fitness. I not just a nurse, I also play other roles in my life. Like the role of a daughter, role of a friend, role of neighbor, role of a citizen, role as a team player. Different activities, need different types of skill. I may need power to do activities like lifting and supporting a patient. In some instances, I need agility to work swiftly and react on time. Agility is particularly important when working as a team.
Sometime I need to maintain body balance. Some activities at job needs strength and speed. Having strength and speed will help me complete tasks faster and saves time that I can use for other activities. Physical fitness and readiness will reduce reaction time to a situation. Reaction time is the time taken to act, after one realizes the need to act. The reaction time can be deciding factor for success in many lifesaving situations. Sometimes the intensity of work is too high, and other times it is low to moderate. Adjusting once energy needs and body dynamics to such situations requires flexibility.
Very often we hear the words ‘fitness’ and ‘get fit’. Sometimes I wonder, how much of physical fitness is required by a nurse. A normal person requires 150 minutes of physical activity per week to remain healthy. A Nurse’s activity is much higher than this. Physically activity helps reduce risk to cardio-vascular disease, diabetes, osteoporosis and hypokinetic diseases. Fitness is related to health and health refers to the wholeness of well-being. Unlike fitness, health also includes environmental, social, emotional, spiritual and global factors. Three to Five session of cardio exercise session per week is recommended for good health. Each session should last for at least 30 to 60 minutes. Exercising different body parts regularly, will help gain the necessary strength. Each exercise session will begin with a warm up, followed by a work out and will end with cooling out or stretching. Exercising helps strengthen muscles and bone. It also relieves stress. (Hafer, 2007)
Body composition is an important sign of fitness. A correctly balanced nutrition is important in achieving the right body composition. Healthy eating habits, helps provide energy for life activities. A person wanting to remain fit, needs to know to eat smart. High density and energy rich food helps gain weight and provide instant energy. However, uncontrolled consumption of such food is not good for heart. Excess energy that accumulates in the body as fat can cause obesity and predispose the individual to chronic disease. Vitamins, minerals and antioxidants offer health benefits and offer protection by boosting once immunity. Food is an integral part of fitness and health. (Hafer, 2007)
A physical examination will help determine once level of fitness. Height, weight, heart rate and blood pressure are taken during physical examination. In addition to this, heart function, lung function, reflexes, senses and eye function are checked in a more detailed examination. Inactivity weakens muscles and bones, and predisposes the individual to injuries. Similarly, poor eating habits and lack of physical activity can weaken the immune system and predispose the individual to disease. Harmful habits like alcoholism, smoking and drug abuse can adversely affect physical health and fitness. These habits, increases risk for chronic disease, creates poor judgment and affects once ability to coordinate and act.
Mental fitness is a prerequisite for physical well-being. Remaining mentally fit, helps lower incidence of anxiety and depression. Research suggests that acts like forgiveness and compassion, helps to keep the mind fit. Hence, it is necessary to train the mind to relax and stay fit. Studies suggest that engaging in cognitive activities and mental games, will help prevent memory loss. Love and kindness, are two subtle attitudes that help the mind to relax. Yoga, Ta Chi, Qigong and martial art are work-outs that helps to keep the body and mind fit. Yoga is form of work out that aims to unite mind, body and spirit. Meditation can help calm the mind and revive once inner strength. Just like food, mental well-being is an integral part of physical fitness. Negative emotions like anger and hatred, increase blood pressure and is harmful to the body.
References:
Hafer, T. (2007). Faith & fitness. Minneapolis, MN: Augsburg Books.
