Nurses in Sports

[begalli]

I have a 27 year old daughter who will be attending nursing school come fall. She holds a BA in psych and for the past four years has been a triathlete, a triathlon club group leader, and a personal trainer. She also runs a cardiac rehab exercise program and a cancer survivors exercise group for those struggling with the effects of all that entails CA treatment at our local YMCA.

She ABSOLUTELY LOVES what she does, but I have encouraged her to return to school to become a nurse. Of course she's into nursing school too. I would never push any one of my kids into something that they didn't want to do.

For all that she does, her pay is definitely not commensurate and I believe that it's due to her educational bakground. My question is what is out there for her as a nurse involved with sports and fitness? She's thinking that one day several years on down the road, she will open her own place and charge as a professional RN for her rehab services. Is this possible without an advanced degree? She will eventually earn a BSN. I don't think she has any plans for going any further than that.

What's out there for sports minded nurses? Is it possible to be that person on a professional sports team who runs onto a field with a little red bag when an athlete goes down?

Where do her unique qualities and desires fit?

[HealthyRN]

I do think that there would be a place in nursing for your daughter. Nursing has endless opportunities and there are many directions that your daughter could go with her career. She could look into rehab nursing or there may be other options as well. I have heard of a nurse opening a fitness center and catering to those with chronic illnesses. As far as what she would be able to do as a BSN-prepared nurse (I'm not quite sure what rehab services she could perform), that would depend on your state's nurse practice act and scope of practice. Any nurse can open a business (check out the entrepreneur forumns), but there are laws governing what services they can provide. In general, nursing has a strong focus on the patient education aspect of care. Actually performing rehab services may require collaboration with other health care providers. Certainly as an advanced practice nurse, there would be more opportunities available.

That being said, your daughter may want to consider other careers as well. If she is really interested in performing rehab services, she should also look into physical or occupational therapy. Both of these positions would require a master's degree. As for the person that runs onto the field when an athlete goes down, this would be an athletic trainer. I believe athletic trainers have 4-year degrees.

I would suggest that your daughter meet with an academic advisor to discuss her career goals and get more information. Good luck!