playing sports while in nursing school?

lizmatt · Dec 9, 2008

Should be possible. We had plenty of people who played sports during school. We also had plenty of people who dropped the sport come senior year. Guess it depends on your level of commitment to the sport and to school.

JStyles1 · Dec 10, 2008

I had the opportunity to be the kicker for my university's football team but decided not to do it. with away games and practices during class and clinical times i dont think i could have done it. it was hard enough w/o sports

bluc1012 · Dec 11, 2008

It definitely requires an immense amount of time and commitment. I walked on to my Div 1AA football team freshman year and it was tough with classes and labs along with practices, lifting, meetings, and games. It's possible, but usually athletes choose easy majors so they can concentrate more on athletics.

caliotter3 · Dec 11, 2008

If you decide to play sports while in ns, I would suggest that you not draw attention to that fact with any of your nursing instructors. People who worked, or otherwise had other activities that could be construed as interfering with school, were treated badly in my school if it became known. Very wise to keep your life outside of nursing school to yourself. Don't bring it up, and never use it as an excuse or explanation for any shortcoming in your nursing studies. Don't give them an excuse to get on your case.

SÆLUM · Dec 23, 2008

Hm, I'm a junior now, and been rowing competitively for seven years now (HS and college). As everyone's said above, doing a sport is hard, but its a good way to blow off steam and keep yourself healthy. I somehow managed to survive Pharm this quarter (oh. my. gosh.... hardest thing ever - I'd retake A&P, micro, and patho anyday for the fun of it in comparison), but I don't attribute the difficulty to being involved in another time consuming activity, but rather in the fact that it was a hard class. My experience is that if you put your mind to something like a sport along with school, the involvement in the sport will potentially strengthen your performance in school.

Reno1978, BSN, RN · Dec 25, 2008

I think it would mostly depend on the level of commitment you needed to give to the sport. I don't think one that would require you to miss much class will allow you to be very successful. My nursing school instructors required us to have active major arterial bleeding or to be dead in order to miss a class excused!

SÆLUM · Dec 26, 2008

Heh, Reno, you said it. Missing class, even if it is technically allowed by the instructor, is really hard on the whole "grade" and "learning" aspect of nursing school. I have some classmates who do volleyball and some other travel-hyperactive sports, and they seem to do OK, but it is a difficult additional challenge. (Thankfully I haven't had to miss anything due to crew, as all of our regattas are on Saturday and close enough to not require early departure.)

UVA Grad Nursing · Jan 1, 2009

At the University of Virginia, we have several nursing students in Division I sports (rowing, lacrosse, swimming/diving, cross country/track), as well as cheerleaders. We give athletes and ROTC students first priority in scheduling clinicals. But all are required to complete the same requirements on time.

We have found that mixing athletics and nursing hones your time management skills

footballnurse49 · Dec 2, 2009

i am in my junior year of ns and a starting football player (carroll college,mt 5xnaia national champs!). both take up lots of time everyday. it's tough but not impossible. you just need to really get down and dirty with your time management. also trying to find some time for yourself is a huge part of getting through each week. i still struggle with trying to fit in studying(homework),clinicals,labs,meetings,lifting and practice everyday. just sit down with your coach and come up with a plan that allows you to take time off from your sport. also go in and let the professors/advisor know your schedule for the sport. your career with nursing/classes should always come first. if you have a coach that has a problem with that i wouldn't even bother with them cause it will just be a pain in the a$$. hope this helped!