The Wide World of Sports / Fitness Nursing was originally published on College Recruiter.
From working in hospital fitness centers and sports injury clinics to teaching fitness classes in the inner city, this emerging career specialty offers nurses many opportunities to be MVPs.
Tony Omlor, RN, BSN, CCRN, knows the 13 years he spent caring for critically ill patients was a good investment of his time. But like many nurses, he grew frustrated watching people suffer and he eventually began to look for ways to use his nursing skills to help people avoid serious illnesses. “Darn it,” he thought, “there’s got to be something I can do to keep people from getting to this point.” Today, as clinical manager for heart and vascular services at Grant Medical Center’s health and fitness center in Columbus, Ohio, Omlor is doing just that.
Helping Americans stay healthy and prevent disease is one of the main thrusts behind an emerging trend that combines nursing with some aspect of fitness or sports. Although the nursing profes-sion has yet to officially develop a specialty in “fitness nursing” or “sports nursing” on either the professional or academic level, a growing number of nurses are becoming involved in these areas.
The connection between physical fitness, wellness and disease prevention is well documented. As a result, hospitals and HMOs around the country have begun opening fitness centers and offering wellness programs with information on nutrition, stress management and exercise. Many corporate employers, meanwhile, have begun offering on-site fitness programs and wellness centers for their employees.
In addition to these practice settings, nurses can also find job opportunities working for professional sports teams, college and university athletic departments, and hospitals, clinics and orthopedic practices that have sports medicine or sports injury programs. Some nurses are involved in sports medicine on a full-time basis while others work on a part-time, contract basis for sports teams.
For example, some nurses work for professional football teams each summer, evaluating the health and fitness of players who are either preparing for another season or trying to make the team for the first time. Other nurses work professional baseball games, either sitting in the dugout to help injured players or treating injured fans at the first-aid stations.
Read the full article at MinorityNurse.com
Article by, Scott Williams and courtesy of www.careersandcolleges.com
