After Richard Spatafora, RN, graduated from Phillips Beth Israel School of Nursing and accepted his first nursing role in the SICU at Beth Israel Medical Center, Manhattan, his exercise routines slowly started to fall apart. "I wasn't used to working 12-hour days; I also wasn't used to being on my feet and moving for 12e hours a day," he explained. "I found that on work days, I was up at 5:30 to be at work by 7, and wouldn't get home until 8:30. Who feels like going to the gym after 15 hours 'running'?"

The 2008 Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans state adults gain substantial health benefits from 2 1/2 hours a week of moderate aerobic activity, or an hour and 15 minutes of vigorous activity (http://www.hhs.gov/news/facts/physicalactivityguidelines.html).

When well-meant intentions to go to the gym on his off days went by the wayside, Spatafora changed his approach. "I started to make the commitment to hit the gym, especially after work," he explained. Once he engaged in 30-40 minutes of intense cardio, he felt the stress from his ICU job melt away.

The exercise had an unexpected benefit. "I find that it helps me detach from work, allowing me to sleep a little better, and ultimately enable me to do it all again the next day," he said.

Bolstered by his success, Spatafora has added 25-mile bike rides around Manhattan, hikes in nearby mountains, and trips to the beach for some jogging to his days off. "These little journeys and adventures make the days off feel like vacation days and like I've gone somewhere," he concluded.

Flor Angel Dignadice, RN, graduated from City College of San Francisco in December 2007 and now balances a lifestyle that includes a lively 5-year-old daughter, a husband who has regular dialysis, and a full-time position on the oncology unit at Seton Medical Center, Daly City, CA. "We live only 2 miles from the beach and there's a lake 2 miles in another direction, so my husband and I love to get out for some fresh air and relaxation while we walk," she said. "Oncology nursing is so stressful and it's in my head even when I'm not at work, so I go for runs on the beach to relieve my stress and clear my mind."

When Mary Yuter, BA, RN graduated from Phillips Beth Israel School of Nursing in New York in 2006, she had job offers from the most prestigious hospitals in the city. She decided to work in the cardiac ICU at Bellevue Hospital Center, "because this is first and foremost a place where patients really need the nursing care I provide and truly appreciate our expertise and kindness."

Yuter takes care to balance her personal and professional lives. "The most important thing in my life is to be a solid presence for my 9-year-old daughter," she said. "I'm in my early 40s and walk to and from the hospital, which gives me 30 minutes of exercise each way. I'm from California and love being outside, so I bike 15 miles and scooter my daughter to and from school on my days off. I'm looking into yoga for those bad weather days I can't be outdoors."

After graduating from the second degree accelerated nursing program at Curry College, Milton, MA, Rose Trogele, BS, BSN, RN, came to Partners Home Care, Waltham, MA as part of the agency's intensive, year-long New Graduate Internship Program.

"I find it really challenging to fit exercise in right now, as I'm working in my first nursing role," she acknowledged. "I exercise on the weekends, but find it difficult to exercise in the evenings after work. But it's important to me, so just yesterday I got up early and had a quick jog with some friends before coming to work."

A little forethought and some help from her friends keep Trogele on track. "I belong to a gym, and like the spinning classes, elliptical machines and some weight training," she said. "I walk with friends, bike with my husband, and walk my dog 30 minutes each day. And I garden a lot, which is active as well."