Fitness and Nursing?

[Curious1alwys, BSN, RN]

Can you work a passion for health and fitness into nursing? Can you think of any ways I could integrate this passion into the field if I do choose to become a nurse. I think it is my true passion, but I don't want to run off and be a personal trainer. What are your thoughts??

Janice

[pmchap]

Well, lets see I did nursing - Teaching (PE major) - and am in the proccess of coaching accreditation. I hoped at the beginning of my nursing career that a passion for health and fitness would be able to show through in nursing....but unfortunately it only seems to in one area - that of public health/health promotion. It almost seems that we are so busy curing that we forget to promote and educate as to the best way to live. Part of the problem may be that very little health & fitness is promoted during nursing training. I would love to see a nursing fraternity that positively promotes health and fitness but all too often nurses are their own worst enemy in terms of health promotion (ie how often is it nurses taking a smoke during a break - or eating the junk food for morning tea). I know each to their own - but rolemodelling is part of nursing - isn't it?

I have in my experience placed active modeling of a healthy lifestyle on a pedestal to show others how I think you should live....occassionally it rubs off but usually coworkers go on unaware that they are providing a health service which fixs problems rather than promotes the cure of them.

Cheers and good luck.

Peter

ps - I have been tempted many times to abandon the concept of nursing to start my own lifestyle coaching/training centre - but allas things like a mortage and children have a way of stopping the ideal in favor of the secure.