Patients are the primary concern of the healthcare system, but the health of nurses should be a close second. If nurses are unable to perform their duties adequately, patients are not receiving the best possible care. One of the many health problems for nurses is leg and foot pain. Nurses will spend most of their day caring for patients. Pain in the feet and legs can range from mild to severe, and there may even be other side effects. Two words...compression socks.
If you experience pain in these areas, compression stockings may be your answer. Compression stockings can help if you experience swollen ankles, thrombosis, phlebitis, leg swelling, back pain, or varicose veins. Additionally, chronic pain can lead to fatigue and decreased alertness over time. Both of these side effects are undoubtedly detrimental to nurses.
How do compression socks work?
As your body pumps blood throughout your body, gravity affects how quickly blood is pumped out of your legs. Blood can eventually build up in the lower legs and feet, causing pain and cramping. Over time, this can lead to the above. Compression socks work by using more elastic and putting pressure on your legs, ankles, and feet. Greater elasticity increases arterial pressure, which improves blood flow.
Types of compression stockings and those recommended by nurses
These socks are available in a variety of tightness options depending on your needs or your medical condition. Tightness or pressure in millimeters of mercury or millimeters of mercury. The higher the number, the tighter it is. Because of how often nurses stand, it is recommended that they look for compression stockings for nurses who are 10 to 15 mmHg. Make sure you stick to the recommended mmHg. Taller won't provide faster results, and you'll most likely find them uncomfortable to wear. If you have noticed spider veins, the recommended mmHg is 18.
Nursing is very hard work. Not only are you standing all day, but there's often no guarantee that you'll be able to sit back and relax when you need to. Your patients' needs are often more important than your own, which means 12-hour shifts that require you to be ready to serve someone at all times.
Reasons Nurses Should Wear Compression Socks
With all the hard work of nursing, it only makes sense to make your job as easy as possible. There are many things you can do to achieve this, but a special consideration for all nurses is wearing compression socks. These socks are designed to increase circulation by putting pressure on the calves, something no full-time nurse should be without. Here's why all nurses should have a pair of compression stockings.
They reduce fatigue
Working long hours can tire your legs, and nurses who are always on the go certainly don't have time to cheer up and relax at work. Compression stockings for men and women promote blood circulation, help oxygen pass through arteries more easily, and allow deoxygenated blood to flow back to the heart more quickly. The faster oxygenated blood is pumped through the body, the faster it gets the nutrients it needs to keep running. Less leg fatigue means nurses are able to handle the day's treatments and charts the moment they get home, without the need for a foot massage.
They minimize swelling
When you stand a lot, not only do your legs and feet get tired, but they can also become very swollen. Poor circulation that occurs when your body is stressed from standing can cause fluid to settle and build up in your legs and feet, causing uncomfortable swelling. Compression stockings apply gentle pressure to the legs, squeezing them gently in a way that limits fluid buildup and helps reduce swelling. Standing for 12 hours a day can cause swelling in your calf and affect your ability to work. Compression stockings will help stabilize the musculature of the leg and keep any swelling to a manageable level. They will also prevent fluid from building up in your legs, another major cause of swelling.
They aid in muscle recovery
Nursing is a high-stress and tiring career choice. It's no surprise that nurses can end their shifts as exhausted as a player after a big game. Just as athletes need to take steps to help their muscles recover, so do nurses. The circulatory benefits of compression stockings occur even when the body is at rest. In fact, the faster the blood flows through the body, the faster the healing. Nurses, like athletes, may wear compression stockings on rest days to help them recover in time for the next doubles.
They relieve the symptoms of varicose veins
Standing for long periods of time can be a risk factor for developing varicose veins, a condition that occurs when blood builds up in the veins instead of returning smoothly to the heart due to valve dysfunction. When blood pools, it puts pressure on the veins and causes them to swell and twist. These dark varicose veins look like they are bulging out of the skin and can become painful. Knee-high compression stockings are especially helpful in relieving varicose vein symptoms because they help push blood from the veins back to the heart from the toes all the way to the knees. When you stand for hours a day for years on end, you're more likely to develop varicose and spider veins. These are uncomfortable because they are not aesthetically pleasing, but the increased pressure from graduated compression stockings may reduce the appearance of varicose veins.
They make people smile
Nursing is a caring profession and a bedside attitude matters. Nurses put a lot of emotional effort into treating patients because they know that kindness and warmth can help improve their experience. While compression stockings that boost circulation do provide nurses with powerful physical benefits, they serve another very important purpose: They make people smile.
While early compression socks were basic, dare we say it? - boring, there are now so many amazing colors, prints and patterns for cute compression socks! When patients see the snappy pink pattern sticking out from under the nurse's smock, it's the start of an instant conversation and a welcome distraction for any test or procedure they're waiting for.
The nursing profession requires a lot of human interaction. Nurses continually work with patients, their families and colleagues to improve lives, save lives and comfort those who have lost their lives. They go out of their way to do everything they can to help make people's lives a little easier. Even if something as simple as putting on a stylish pair of socks in the morning is enough to energize a patient's day, you'd better trust a nurse to do it.
Happy feet
Nurses work in shifts, running from bed to bed for hours on end. These professionals have dedicated their entire careers to creating a welcoming and caring medical environment for their patients, so it's just as important that they take the time to care for themselves. Thankfully, compression stockings provide just the right amount of relief for nurses' tired, sore feet, giving them the motivation they need to keep doing what they love. This is perhaps the biggest reason why nurses should wear compression stockings in the short term. In short, all the benefits of wearing compression socks reduce your discomfort throughout the day. Your feet will be less sore after a shift, blisters will be much less likely, and you'll be less stressed. Nursing is already a stressful, physically exhausting job; you shouldn't add sore feet and legs.