Nurses Need the Right Shoes to Avoid Foot Pain

Before the next case I went over to the doctor's lounge just next to the O.R. I grabbed a bite to eat and sat down. From over my shoulder I heard, "I don't want to bother you, but would you mind if I asked you a question?" It was Amy, the scrub nurse I had been working with all morning. "Every morning when I get out of bed I have this heel pain..."

I listened to her story, about how her heels first hurt when she gets out of bed. About how they don't usually bother her while she is standing during surgery, but how she gets this sharp pain after she sits down for a break and then gets up and starts walking again. She seemed somewhat frustrated because it had been going on for about two months.

I looked at her yellow crocs, that likely used to be bright, long before being splattered with saline, blood and iodine. I paused and said, "So let me guess. You got your Crocs about six months ago." And quick came the reply, "how did you know!"

Well I am not a psychic, palm reader, sole reader, nor any kind of magician, other than a podiatrist. The fact is, its just math. It seems that Crocs will only withstand about 3-4 months of being compressed between a nurse (working hard on his/her feet all day) and the hospital floor (hard as concrete, quite literally). Wearing Crocs past the life of the shoe can result in plantar fasciitis. This was also about the third or fourth time I had a similar exchange with a nurse complaining of heel pain in the hospital.

The fact is nurses work hard. Up, down, charting, giving meds, dressing wounds, hanging IV's, putting Mr. Jones's nasal cannula back in nose instead of his eyebrow, busy, busy all the time. The shoes that nurses wear must be prepared for a world class beating. And not all shoes are created equal.

The Croslite material (the only material in Crocs) is quite similar to the cushioning midsole of a running shoe. As a marathon runner and Ironman triathlete I can say that the stuff does not last forever. I am always advising patients (who are also runners) how to tell if the midsole is worn out. And when it is...time to donate them to a less fortunate recipient at the homeless shelter.

Does that mean Crocs are bad? Nope. It just means they are soft and don't last real long. I will however, say that if you are on the wards, walking fast all day, they are worse than if you are mostly standing (like in the O.R.). If you have any foot or ankle instability, such as flatfeet, bunions or tendinitis, you are at risk of aggravating those problems. If you have high arches you are safe.

One other potential concern is the little air vents in the toe box. There have been many incidences with sharps, so watch the toes around needles, scalpels and other falling pointed things. Some facilities actually have instituted policies against Crocs because of safety concerns.

So, if they take away my beloved Crocs, what will I wear? I would suggest something good for your feet. Flat-footed people should wear athletic shoes with motion control features and stability. If you have high arches, wear cushioning running shoes or something with a rocker sole that will decrease stress in the big toe joint. If I had to pick one shoe for nurses, I would pick Dansko clogs. To see more choices than you could ever want, click on our recommended running shoe list on our website. Remember...you nurses deliver all of the care that actually happens. You need your feet to take of the rest of us. Nurses should take care of their feet as well as they take care of their patients.