Fitness and Nursing- any ideas?

Nurses Entrepreneurs

Published

I am a personal trainer and group fitness instructor, as well as an RN. My true passion is for fitness, but I'm not quite ready to give up on my nursing degree. I've been trying to think of a way to combine my nursing background with fitness and open my own business. Does anyone know of any nurses that have done something similar? I've heard of nurses that have a background in maternal/child nursing starting fitness programs for pregnant or new mothers, but I don't have the nursing background for that. Anyone have any ideas?

Specializes in Surgical Nursing.

This post is in response to something Jeremy said...I am also an RN with a certification as a Personal Trainer. I love the healthy one-on-one with clients. Since graduating nursing school a year ago, I've begun to wonder if becoming a nurse was a mistake. You said something about cardiac rehab. How would a newer nurse get started in that direction?

Thank you,

EastbayRN

For cardiac rehab or plmonary rehab try calling around to the hospitals in your area.

Another idea is try to get a referal base from physical therapists, once the patient has used up all authorized visits then you might be able to continue with the excercise program once the patient is released from therapy.

Jeremy

Specializes in Surgical Nursing.

Thanks Jeremy! Appreciate your saavy on this and so many other subjects.

eastbayRN

I found this link which was interesting:

Fitness Nursing is ranked #5 in the 10 most exciting Jobs in Nursing!

NursingLink's 10 Most Exciting Jobs in Nursing

#1: Going Into the Flow: Holistic Nursing

#2: A Digital Dose: Nursing Informatics

#3: Criminal Realm: Forensic Nursing

#4: Measuring Quality: Outcomes Management

#5: Health Pays: Fitness Nursing

#6: On Your Own: Entrepreneur and Consultant (Self Employed)

#7: Botox and Beyond Medical Esthetics Nurse

#8: Beyond Chaplains: Faith-Based Nursing

#9 Educating and Monitoring: Insurance Nursing

#10: Managing and More: Assisted Living and Long Term Care

Edit: Also found this nice blog on the topic:

http://fitnessnursing.wordpress.com/

Here's another interesting one:

Certified Fitness Nurse

http://www.fitnessnursing.org/mission.html

I am a personal trainer and group fitness instructor, as well as an RN. My true passion is for fitness, but I'm not quite ready to give up on my nursing degree. I've been trying to think of a way to combine my nursing background with fitness and open my own business. Does anyone know of any nurses that have done something similar? I've heard of nurses that have a background in maternal/child nursing starting fitness programs for pregnant or new mothers, but I don't have the nursing background for that. Anyone have any ideas?

I just started my first nursing job, as a matter of fact I'm still on orientation. And I'm feeling the same way. I am not loving it, and I'm kind of disapointed. I would really love to make a living by helping others get healthy. If you guys find any promising leads, please fill me in!

I am a personal trainer and group fitness instructor, as well as an RN. My true passion is for fitness, but I'm not quite ready to give up on my nursing degree. I've been trying to think of a way to combine my nursing background with fitness and open my own business. Does anyone know of any nurses that have done something similar? I've heard of nurses that have a background in maternal/child nursing starting fitness programs for pregnant or new mothers, but I don't have the nursing background for that. Anyone have any ideas?

Wow! I was thinking the same thing.

I am currently working in the fitness industry and will be starting nursing school soon. My goal is to be able to combine both eventually. I love the ob/gyn and peds field, so hopefully classes relating pre-post pregnancy and peds related topics. Has anyone been successful in any of these endeavors? Do hospitals hire RNs that are certified as Fitness Instructors to offer such classes? Such a great field! No to find out how to make $ doing both!

Hello Everyone,

For all of you health and fitness nurses out there, I just completed the ACE fitness Liestyle and Weight Management Coach certification. It was intense, but well worth it. My goal is to add weightloss coaching and workshops to my future business. The certification does not require you to have a personal training background, although I think it would be needed if you wanted to design an exercise routine for a client. I just thought I would share this info if anyone is interested.

Hi!

I am so excited to see that I am not the only one who feels this way about fitness and nursing!

I am trying to figure out a way to get my career heading in a different direction. Pushing pills and dealing with all the behind-the-scenes drama is NOT for me. I guess I didn't realize what I had signed up for and it has me very depressed.

My dream and goal is to open a wellness center and work in a more upbeat and positive environment where I can help educate and inspire others to get fit and healthy.

The problem is I really don't know where to begin. As my first step I am looking into becoming a Certified Personal Trainer and also looking at some of the certifications that are mentioned above. I am researching as much as I can online but other than here on All Nurses, I really haven't been able to find that much information about tying the two together.

I know some of the posts on here are from a couple of years ago so I am very curious to find out if anyone has actually branched out and made fitness nursing work for them? Does anyone else have any tips or advice for a newbie in this area! And lastly, are there any nurses in the Phoenix area who are interested in doing something like this? I would love to partner up with anyone who has the same ideas and passions!

Thanks!!!!

Hi!

Have you checked out ACSM (American college of Sport Medicine)? They have a pretty strong voice in the health and fitness world. Their certifications include that of personal trainer, exercise specialist, and exercise physiologist (the last one requires a masters degree as a prerequisite). The specialist and physiologist certification allow you to work with clients that have health problems but need a supervised exercise program.

I am very happy that I found this thread. I feel the same way that most you feel. Fitness is my true passion and I would love to be able to have a career where I can utilize both the nursing and fitness aspects. I would specifically like to get into Sports Training. I am considering going back to school and getting a degree in Kinesiology and also a degree in Nutrition. I would love to have a job title that would allow me to utilize my RN license as well as the other 2 degree. Have any of you RNs had any success utilizing fitness and nursing in your career?

I have a minor in physical education, in addition to my BSN. It was my goal to pursue a career in fitness combined with my nursing degree.

I found out in a short period of time, that exercise physiologists have pretty much cornered the market.

As the fitness craze became popular, they set up companies to do fitness testing, consulting, they obtainted lucrative contracts to do the cardiac testing for the police departments, and fire departments physicals, resented the presense/interest of an RN in the same career field. Acted like I was a HS dropout interloper, instead of an experienced critical care nurse.

Problem was solved when I moved to Washington State, and there was no market like there was in California. I forgot about pursuing that option. Look into it in your community and see what the market is, who is doing the testing for big companies, and departments in the government. Don't count on getting a job in a health club. They hire new college grads with Bachelors Degrees in Physical Education, and, (this was 25 years ago), paid them the princely sum of $6.00 and hour.

Even the individuals who had graduate degrees in nutrition were paid the same paltry sum.

The moral of the story is, you would be better off looking for a niche, that is, at the moment, uncharted, and expoit it to the max.

You also need to factor in the economy. When people do not have enough money to pay their bills, mortgage, car payment, put food on their table and gas in their car, they will be reluctant to spend money on fitness. Unless it is a low cost agency, etc, that is affordable. You can always try a military base, and see if there is an interest there. But the base fitness centers, hire exercise physiologists in their fitness centers, who are federal employees, with benefits etc, can get transfered to bases overseas, etc. Good jobs!

PM me if you have any more questions.

JMHO and my NY $0.02.

Somewhere in the PACNW

+ Add a Comment