Tracking steps at BWMC | Maryland Gazette (HometownGlenBurnie.com)

But Ms. Devroude isn't going to the gym. She's heading to her shift at Baltimore Washington Medical Center.

The nurse spends her 12-hour shifts navigating the 46-bed unit on the second floor of the main building. The task requires daily treks to the pharmacy and the lab as well as helping patients on other floors.

It came as no surprise to the Crofton resident when she wore a pedometer and noticed that she walked about four to six miles each shift. On a particularly brutal day, she walked nine miles, the most she's ever done.

"Unfortunately, our floors are concrete," Ms. Devroude said. "The first thing I've been doing from day one is wearing support hose. For that reason, it keeps my legs from being that much more tired."

Ms. Devroude and other nurses at BWMC wore pedometers for a two-week period this year to see how much walking they do. Many nurses logged three to six miles in an eight-hour shift. Anne Arundel Medical Center did a similar effort with its nurses last year.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recommends walking as a good form of exercise, along with common chores such as gardening and washing cars. For a month in 2003, researchers surveyed the walking habits of nearly 150 nurses working 12-hour shifts.

It found that the nurses walked four to five miles per shift and one-third to one-half of a mile per hour worked, according to results that were published in the August 2006 issue of MedSurg Nursing, the Journal of Adult Health.

The article also cited an ongoing study on nurses' health and found that those ages 40 to 65 experienced reduced diabetes and stroke. Yet the constant walking could also accelerate fatigue and exacerbate underlying muscle injuries, according to the study.

At AAMC's emergency room, the movement is constant and the brands of shoes are abundant. The nurses wear Birkenstocks, Danskos, sneakers or whatever makes them the most comfortable. Nurse Sally Grimm opts for Danskos.

"A typical (registered nurse) in this department would walk from one end to the other at least multiple times every day," said Ms. Grimm, a clinical educator.

"It's what we do and we try to develop a system that will make us efficient about where we walk. The bottom line is, you have to get to point A and point B and you have to do it a lot."

The work of BWMC nurse Debbie Russell takes her around the campus, sometimes to four buildings. She works in the breast program and aids patients who are being treated for breast cancer from diagnosis to surgery and radiology. She averages four miles per shift, but her most has been seven miles.

Ms. Russell takes her own precautions for walking. She opts for sneakers and usually replaces them every six months. She also wears sunscreen and a hat when she has to go outside in the warmer weather. As if the constant walking wasn't enough, Ms. Russell also does yoga when she isn't working.

"I make sure that when I can sit down, I do sit down," said Ms. Russell, of Odenton. "(But) my calves are in good shape."