A look at the health of nurses: ‘get on your bike?’ I saw Bradley Wiggins win the Tour de France and on the same afternoon, I read that our high levels of inactivity are causing as much risk to our health as smoking (Hallal et al, 2012). We are a nation of extremes. Of course, this contrasting news makes me think about my own level of physical activity — well no, it makes me think about my own lack of physical activity — but it also makes me think about the health and wellbeing of nurses in general. Nursing is a very physical job for the most part but because of the range of stressors that come with it, that activity is not helping to keep us fit; and the cost of this is high to individuals and the NHS. Sickness absence rates remain a challenge in terms of managing affected staff, ensuring staffing levels to provide safe patient care and managing the cost. Although most nursing budgets have some allowance to ensure cover when someone is off sick, some do not. My own experience tells me that this helpful arrangement is most likely to be in acute, rather than in community settings, mainly as a result of custom and practice, rather than need. However, the more important issue is supporting and managing the staff themselves. Staff with shortor long-term sickness issues need help, support and consistent management. For busy nurse managers, this is time consuming and often difficult, even if there is assistance from Human Resources and a dynamic occupational health department. It is not something I think we do consistently well. Some healthcare organisations are more enlightened, providing access to gym facilities and fitness classes, as well as healthy eating options and fast access to healthcare assessments and treatments, but many do not do any of these things. To do so consistently across the NHS would be a good investment given the cost of sickness absence to any organisation. The main concern, though, would be whether it would be the already fit and healthy that would then be making the most of it rather than those of us who need it. Of course, we could all just start taking the stairs — not only would we improve our health, we would save electricity that would otherwise have powered the lift...if only I had the time! More worrying for me is our mental health. Stress is a frequent cause of ill health and still often met with some cynicism, despite the growing pressure that services find themselves under, and the traumatic things we deal with as ‘routine’. In terms of mental health support, speedy access to counselling and psychological support is hard to come by, even for people in significant need. However, others do help fill the gap. Chaplaincy services, for example, Melanie Hornett Nurse Director NHS Lothian Health Board provide unseen but hugely valuable support to staff. Clinical supervision can also help, yet nurses remain reluctant to participate. Public health advice is another interesting slant on this matter. Advice is already circulating about flu vaccinations for staff in preparation for winter but uptake generally remains low. In some hospitals in the USA, such preventative action is mandatory while we in the UK rely on individual choice.