*The study will be published this fall

How active do you think you really are? Are you getting the 150 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity you need in a week, or are you doing your 10,000 steps per day? These are just some of the questions Associate Scientist Dr.Jennifer Reed asked our nurses as they prepared to take part in the Heart Institute’s Cardiac Prevention & Rehabilitation WALK study. In it, she discovered that Heart Institute nurses experienced lower levels of physical activity but could make beneficial lifestyle changes with a simple intervention and challenge.

“This is the first study of its kind,” says Dr. Reed. “Previous studies with Canadian nurses used self-reported measures but we tracked their physical activity instead. This is also the first time nurses are part of a physical intervention. They are the largest professional group within the Canadian health care workforce.”

The idea was born, in part, through results of an employee engagement survey. In it, nurses at the Ottawa Heart Institute reported being eager to find ways to increase their physical activity and improve their health. A National Survey of the Work Health of Nurses echoed their sentiments. In fact, 45 per cent of nurses are overweight or obese and 13 per cent have high blood pressure. Nurses have a rate of absenteeism which is 55 percent higher than the average for all other health care occupations. On average, nurses take 20 days of sick time each year. Studies have demonstrated that poor health is associated with high absenteeism rates and reduced productivity. Nurses are working long hours and must manage the physical and emotional demands of the job.

“Nurses are often on their feet, but may not be moving as much as they used to. Nursing stations were once located at the end of a corridor or hall. Now, nursing stations are in the middle making it more convenient to reach patients.”

A total of 76 full-time, part-time and casually employed nurses participated in the study. Each had a device strapped to their ankle to monitor their physical activity and step counts, but were not allowed to track their progress for six weeks.

After six weeks, the results were astonishing. Only 36 per cent met the 10,000 steps per day guideline, and shockingly, only 10 per cent of nurses in the study did 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity. These results are lower than the Canadian average. According to the Canadian Health Measures Survey 2011, 40 per cent of adults do an average of 10,000 steps per day while 15 per cent do 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity.

“Week six also marked the beginning of the intervention phase. In this phase, our team allowed nurses to see their results online. Without their knowledge, we randomized the nurses into three challenge categories. In these categories, 25 nurses would receive an individual challenge, 25 would be paired up with other nurses for a friend challenge, and the last 25 nurses would have a team challenge. The nurses did not know who they were competing against in the friend and team challenge.”

Dr. Reed says that there’s something about competition that gets people moving: the nurses in both the friend and team challenge increased their physical activity significantly. Seeing the results of an anonymous competitor or competitors encouraged the participating nurses to be more active. In fact, purposeful exercise increased from 10 per cent to 25 per cent. In the end, researchers observed a decrease in body fat, a decrease in systolic blood pressure and a decrease in waist circumference.

Dr. Reed is working with Dr. Robert Reid and a team of co-investigators in the Champlain region to expand this research program to 10 other hospitals who have expressed an interest in the study. If the results prove to be successful, they will expand the research to other healthcare practitioners and hopefully other professions.

The research is part of a workplace intervention program in which researchers are finding ways to increase physical activity in the workplace. The Prevention and Wellness team is seeking additional funding for the research to expand their work into other workplaces. Support their work through the Heart Institute Foundation.