In June of 2017, The American Medical Association recommended that hospitals provide plant-based meals for patients and staff and remove processed meats. In addition, they recommended providing healthier beverages. Some hospitals have incorporated these recommendations and provide a plant-based meal at all times and only provide sugar free beverages. Other hospitals and work environments have not made significant changes or implemented any recommendations.
The American Nurses Association has a Healthy Nurse program and is trying to help nurses achieve healthier lifestyles so they can be stronger role models for their patients as well as be healthier employees and community members. ANA completed a Health Risk Assessment in June 2012 and found that 70% of respondents were either obese or overweight with 40% being obese. A majority of the participants were in the 30 to 39 year old age range and only 40% said they ate the recommended 4 or more servings of fruit and vegetables a day. There are a wide variety of opportunities in which hospitals and other places of employment can offer healthier nutritional options to their employees. In both of these organizations, nurses and other employees wanted to experience plant-based nutrition and learn how it could impact their health.
An advanced practice nurse, who was certified in plant-based nutrition and with expertise in this area, was brought in to develop a program in which nurses and other colleagues could experience the benefits and challenges of a plant based nutritional program. In order to have data for this program, cholesterol levels were drawn before and after the program and participants recorded their weight in their own homes before and after the program. They also completed surveys before and after the 21 days focusing on their consumptions of specific foods and the impact it had on their behavior and emotions. The results of the program were significant with participants losing weight, significantly reducing their cholesterol, positively impacting their sleep, concentration, and other behaviors.
The program consisted of a presenter, the advanced practice nurse, sharing research and information on plant-based nutrition with participants. They then followed a free online 21 day nutritional program, outlined by a national plant-based non-profit organization, in which they received menus, recipes, grocery lists and viewed cooking demos. They had ongoing support from the presenter plus additional educational programs during the 21 days.
This program provided an opportunity for them to experience plant-based nutrition, which could assist them in reaching their health goals. They were able to share the challenges they experienced and then identified opportunities to make changes both at home and in their work environments.They were able to identify behaviors they could implement immediately as well as those that would take longer to complete. In collaboration with their colleagues, they identified organizational changes that could be made in the future to allow them to continue their new healthy eating habits and reduce their exposure for chronic disease and be healthier role models for their patients and colleagues.